A study of a new approach to treating depression by enhancing cognitive function through magnesium L-threonate
Depression has become a disease that endangers human health and social harmony. Therefore, effective treatments for depression and novel antidepressant drugs have become research topics of great interest in the field of psychopharmacology. Clinical experience has shown that improving patients' cognitive ability is an important treatment for depression; studies have shown that cognitive function is closely related to changes in neuroplasticity, and the decline of the latter has gradually been recognised as an important pathological change in depression. Recent studies have found that the use of magnesium L-threonate improves neuroplasticity and thereby enhances cognitive function.
On this basis, a project proposes, for the first time, a new way of thinking about treating depression by enhancing cognitive function through the use of magnesium L-threonate. We will investigate the potential antidepressant efficacy of this approach through psychopharmacological studies as well as structural, cellular and molecular level analyses using classical animal models of depression (e.g., learned helplessness, compulsive swimming, and chronic stress) as well as animal models of cognitive function (e.g., novel object recognition test, fear conditioning, and fear extinction). We hope to elucidate the antidepressant efficacy of magnesium L-threonate in terms of enhancing cognitive function in subjects.
