Cholinergic dysfunction in the dorsal striatum promotes habit formation and maladaptive eating.

Dysregulation of habit formation has been recently proposed as pivotal to eating disorders. Here, we report that a subset of patients suffering from restrictive anorexia nervosa have enhanced habit formation compared with healthy controls. Habit formation is modulated by striatal cholinergic interneurons.

SSRI Augmentation by 5-Hydroxytryptophan Slow Release: Mouse Pharmacodynamic Proof of Concept.

Drugs, notably SSRIs, that elevate brain extracellular 5-HT (5-HTExt) are antidepressants. Unfortunately, most patients fail to remit. Multipronged clinical evidence suggests that elevating 5-HTExt beyond the SSRI effect enhances antidepressant efficacy, but previous such drug strategies had prohibitive limitations.