2025最新蜘蛛池源码|【唯一TG:@heimifeng8】|谷歌搜索留痕API✨谷歌搜索留痕排名,史上最强SEO技术,20年谷歌SEO经验大佬✨Nature Communications: Researchers propose treating depression with laughing gas
Researchers from the University of Chicago have found that nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, which is used as an anesthetic, can quickly improve mood and intensify brain centers that are inhibited by depression. The findings of this study were published in the medical journal Nature Communications.
According to researchers, every third patient with depression does not respond to standard treatment. To fill this gap, researchers began to study fast-acting alternatives that affect the brain differently than classic antidepressants.
Inspired by the results of using ketamine—a non-inhalation anesthetic, researchers turned their attention to another anesthetic: nitrous oxide.
In the respective experiment, researchers put mice in a depressive state after chronic stress. After that, the rodents were exposed to carbon dioxide. The researchers then analyzed changes in the rodents’ gyrus cinguli, a region of the brain linked to emotional regulation and mood.
The researchers focused on a specific group of neurons known as layer five (L5) pyramidal neurons. L5 activity is significantly reduced in people with stress-induced depression. The results showed that nitrous oxide quickly and selectively “awakened” L5 neurons in mice—even after the aforesaid gas had been cleared from their bodies.
After inhaling it, the depressed mice became more active almost immediately and engaged in pleasurable activities, such as drinking sweetened water.
“This ‘disinhibition’ effect’—where the brain becomes less suppressed and more engaged—looks to be a crucial reason for the drug’s antidepressant benefits. It helps reactivate neural circuits dulled by stress and depression without needing to form entirely new brain connections,” says Peter Nagele, Professor of Anesthesia and Psychiatry at the University of Chicago Medicine.
Researchers believe that similar effects of laughing gas may occur in humans, too. However, further research is needed to confirm this theory and to identify an effective therapeutic dose of nitrous oxide.