Volume transmission as a mechanism of time-dependent sensitization to antidepressant therapy

Administration of certain drugs such as antidepressants have been shown to produce a phenomenon known as time-dependent sensitization, a process in which the acute effects of the drugs sensitize and grow over time. While both preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated time-dependent sensitization, it is still uncertain how it occurs. It is possible that the mechanism by which time-dependent sensitization occurs may be via a type of transmission in the brain known as volume transmission. Signals released via this transmission have properties that may explain the process of time-dependent sensitization. (C) 2000 Harcourt Publishers.