Меланокортин и ангедония

The researchers report that chronic stress in mice leads to activation of the melanocortin 4 receptor, which decreases the strength of excitatory synapses on neurons expressing D1 dopamine receptor in the nucleus accumbens, the brain's pleasure center.

The research also shows that stress-elicited increases in behavioral measurements of anhedonia in the mice can be prevented by blocking melanocortin 4 receptor–mediated synaptic changes in the animals.

"By delineating the molecular mechanisms underlying the circuit modifications that mediate specific behavioural manifestations of psychiatric symptoms such as anhedonia, it should be possible to accelerate the development of efficacious therapies with new mechanisms of action," the investigators write.

Hormone a New Treatment Target for Depression, Schizophrenia?