Anti-Depression Drug Helps Learning Under Stress
A stressful
or traumatic event often hampers the learning ability of depressed women.
But a study conducted by researchers from Rutgers, The State University
of New Jersey, shows Prozac can help women overcome that problem.
"Depression
is a devastating illness that is often accompanied in females by an inability
to concentrate and learn," said Tracey Shors, associate professor of psychology.
"Our data show that while Prozac is an effective drug for treating depression,
it also protects females from the adverse effects of stress on learning."
Shors reported
her findings at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Orlando,
Fla. In rat studies, Shors and team found that after a stressful event,
learning was impaired in the control group that did not receive Prozac
but not in the group treated with the drug.
"Importantly,"
Shors pointed out, "unstressed females treated with Prozac did not differ
from unstressed, untreated females, indicating that Prozac itself did not
affect learning."
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