Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25887240›Full record

ReviewTrends in neurosciences2015

An excitatory synapse hypothesis of depression.

Scott M Thompson, Angy J Kallarackal, Mark D Kvarta, Adam M Van Dyke, Tara A LeGates, Xiang Cai

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Trends in neurosciences, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 165 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
165citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

165 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
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  7. Review
  8. nNOS-expressing neurons in the mPFC mediate depression-related behaviors in mice through pPVT-mPFC projections.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
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  17. Mitogen-activated protein kinase dependent presynaptic potentiation in the lateral habenula mediates depressive-like behaviors in rats.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
    Article
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article

105 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Scott M ThompsonDepartment of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Programs in Neuroscience and Membrane Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. Electronic address: sthom003@umaryland.edu.
Angy J KallarackalDepartment of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Programs in Neuroscience and Membrane Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
Mark D KvartaDepartment of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Programs in Neuroscience and Membrane Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
Adam M Van DykeDepartment of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Programs in Neuroscience and Membrane Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
Tara A LeGatesDepartment of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
Xiang CaiDepartment of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Department of Physiology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA.

Funding

TRAINING PROGRAM IN INTEGRATIVE MEMBRANE BIOLOGYT32GM008181 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI RIZZO, MEGAN A, TRUDEAU, MATTHEW C · 1987 to 2022
$4.9M
Training Program in Cellular &Integrative NeuroscienceT32NS007375 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI KELLER, ASAF · 1994 to 2013
$4.2M
Training Program in NeuroscienceT32NS063391 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI Jessica Aurora Mong · 2008 to 2026
$4.0M
Stress, Depression, Serotonin, and Plasticity of Excitatory TransmissionR01MH086828 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI THOMPSON, SCOTT M. · 2010 to 2019
$3.8M
Medical Scientist Training ProgramT32GM092237 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI ROGHMANN, MARY-CLAIRE · 2010 to 2019
$3.0M
NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM008181NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM092237NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH086828NINDS NIH HHS T32 NS007375NINDS NIH HHS T32 NS063391
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Depression is a common cause of mortality and morbidity, but the biological bases of the deficits in emotional and cognitive processing remain incompletely understood. Current antidepressant therapies are effective in only some patients and act slowly. Here, we propose an excitatory synapse hypothesis of depression in which chronic stress and genetic susceptibility cause changes in the strength of subsets of glutamatergic synapses at multiple locations, including the prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus, and nucleus accumbens (NAc), leading to a dysfunction of corticomesolimbic reward circuitry that underlies many of the symptoms of depression. This hypothesis accounts for current depression treatments and suggests an updated framework for the development of better therapeutic compounds.

Indexed as

AnimalsAntidepressive AgentsBrainDepressionExcitatory Postsynaptic PotentialsHumansSynapsesAntidepressive Agentsglutamatehippocampusketaminenucleus accumbensrewardstress

Identifiers

PMID25887240
PMCPMC4417609

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.