Antidepressants and the adolescent brain: Changing the course of neurodevelopment?

The main objective of this thesis is to gain more insight in the effects of SSRIs, and fluoxetine (FLX) in particular, on neurodevelopmental processes in the adolescent brain. In more detail, we are interested in the effects of chronic FLX treatment on neurotransmitter function, with a strong emphasis on serotonergic function, and on how these effects differ between adolescent- and adult exposure in the rat brain. Additionally, we focus on the usefulness of pharmacological MRI as an imaging tool for assessing 5-HT function