lena brundin – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Countering Brain Chemical Could Prevent Suicides

Researchers have found the first proof that a chemical in the brain called glutamate is linked to suicidal behavior, offering new hope for efforts to prevent people from taking their own lives.

Writing in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, Michigan State University’s Lena Brundin and an international team of co-investigators present the first evidence that glutamate is more active in the brains of people who attempt suicide. Glutamate is an amino acid that sends signals between nerve cells and has long been a suspect in the search for chemical causes of depression. (more…)

Common Parasite May Trigger Suicide Attempts

By Guest PostAugust 18, 2012Health, Scienceamerica, biological change, biological mechanism, brain, brain cell, damage, depression, harmless, infection, inflammation, lena brundin, parasite, parkinsons disease, suicide attempt, symptom, t gondii, teodor postolache, toxoplasma gondii, united states

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A parasite thought to be harmless and found in many people may actually be causing subtle changes in the brain, leading to suicide attempts.

New research appearing in the August issue of The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry adds to the growing work linking an infection caused by the Toxoplasma gondii parasite to suicide attempts. Michigan State University’s Lena Brundin was one of the lead researchers on the team.

About 10-20 percent of people in the United States have Toxoplasma gondii, or T. gondii, in their bodies, but in most it was thought to lie dormant, said Brundin, an associate professor of experimental psychiatry in MSU’s College of Human Medicine. In fact, it appears the parasite can cause inflammation over time, which produces harmful metabolites that can damage brain cells. (more…)

Tag Archives: lena brundin

Countering Brain Chemical Could Prevent Suicides

Common Parasite May Trigger Suicide Attempts