Gates scholar leads research on antidepressants

  • September 28, 2010
Gates scholar leads research on antidepressants

The most common type of antidepressants alters moral judgement, says a study led by Gates scholar Molly Crockett.

The most common type of antidepressants, serotonin enhancers, alters peoples’ moral judgement and leads to a reduction in aggressive behaviour, says a study led by Gates scholar Molly Crockett.

The new research is published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Crockett and her team from the University of Cambridge’s Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, discovered that healthy volunteers given drugs which increase their serotonin, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), have an increased aversion to harming others, viewing such actions as morally forbidden.

Molly said: “Our study suggests that these medications can affect people’s sense of right and wrong, which influences the choices they make in everyday life.

“Interestingly, the drug’s effects were strongest in people who were naturally high in empathy, suggesting that serotonin could enhance people’s concern for others by making the prospect of harming them feel worse.”

Crockett is originally from California and began her PhD in Experimental Psychology at Cambridge in 2006, funded by a Gates scholarship

Her research explores the neural mechanisms of human motivation and decision-making under the supervision. She is particularly focused on how serotonin influences decision-making in social contexts.

Read more

 

Latest News

Exploring nuclear security at a time of global tensions

Janani Mohan [2023] is at the centre of one of the biggest topics of our times – nuclear security. Janani is an expert in nuclear policy, having worked in the […]

Scholars launch mentorship scheme to help Palestinian students

A group of students, initially brought together by Gates Cambridge Scholars, and now expanding beyond both Gates and Cambridge, has formed the Palestine Educational Opportunity Initiative (Pal Ed) to support […]

How and where do religious minorities claim their rights?

A Gates Cambridge has just published a book which charts a new way of understanding minority rights based on an exploration of the everyday life of Muslim women’s activism in […]

Exploring the impact of the environment on health

In 2016, at the age of 17, Shin Zert Phua travelled to Singapore to study for a three-year diploma in mechanical engineering. Three months later his father was diagnosed with […]