A leaky umbrella has little value: evidence clearly indicates the serotonin system is implicated in depression

Journal article

A recent “umbrella” review examined various biomarkers relating to the serotonin system, and concluded there was no consistent evidence implicating serotonin in the pathophysiology of depression. We present reasons for why this conclusion is overstated, including methodological weaknesses in the review process, selective reporting of data, over-simplification, and errors in the interpretation of neuropsychopharmacological findings. We use the examples of tryptophan depletion and serotonergic molecular imaging, the two research areas most relevant to the investigation of serotonin, to illustrate this

Authors: Jauhar, S; Arnone, D; Baldwin, DS; Bloomfield, M; Browning, M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Springer Nature [academic journals on nature.com]
• Journal: Molecular Psychiatry
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 3149-3152
• Publication date: 2023-06-16
• DOI: 10.1038/s41380-023-02095-y
• EISSN: 1476-5578
• ISSN: 1359-4184
• Language: English
• Keywords: Cognitive psychology; Computer science; Serotonergic; Psychiatry; Neuroscience; Depression (economics); Internal medicine; Serotonin; Psychology; Value (mathematics); Medicine