A leaky umbrella has little value: evidence clearly indicates the serotonin system is implicated in depression
Sameer Jauhar, Danilo Arnone, David S. Baldwin, Michael Bloomfield, Michael Browning, Anthony J. Cleare, Philip R. Corlett, J.F.W. Deakin, David Erritzøe, Cynthia H.Y. Fu, Paolo Fusar‐Poli, Guy M. Goodwin, Joseph Hayes, Robert Howard, Oliver Howes, Mário F. Juruena, Raymond W. Lam, Stephen M. Lawrie, R. Hamish McAllister‐Williams, Steven Marwaha, David Matuskey, Robert A. McCutcheon, David Nutt, Carmine M. Pariante, Toby Pillinger, Rajiv Radhakrishnan, James Rucker, Sudhakar Selvaraj, Paul Stokes, Rachel Upthegrove, Nefize Yalın, Lakshmi N. Yatham, Allan H. Young, Roland Zahn, Philip J. Cowen
Abstract
A recent “umbrella” review examined various biomarkers relating to the serotonin system, and concluded there was no consistent evidence implicating serotonin in the pathophysiology of depression. We present reasons for why this conclusion is overstated, including methodological weaknesses in the review process, selective reporting of data, over-simplification, and errors in the interpretation of neuropsychopharmacological findings. We use the examples of tryptophan depletion and serotonergic molecular imaging, the two research areas most relevant to the investigation of serotonin, to illustrate this.