The researchers bred mice to lack a key gene in a pathway in the brain…[and t]he mice without this gene…showed “behavioral abnormalities”….
…
Cheyette’s group also treated some of the experimental mice with lithium, and found that they developed more connections, leaving them with about as many as the normal mice. And while Cheyette wouldn’t say this is “the absolute 100 percent answer” to the question of why lithium works, it “adds a lot of weight” to the argument that it targets this pathway.
…
This research does have its limits: As Cheyette said, “mice are not humans.”
…
“But it’s an still important clue in [figuring out] the kinds of defects in patients that may exist at the biological level,” Cheyette said.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: A Gene That Could Help Explain Why Lithium Stabilizes Mood