Author archives: José Ramón Alonso

Image of José Ramón Alonso

José R. Alonso has a PhD in Neurobiology and is professor of Cell Biology at the University of Salamanca. He has been researcher and visiting professor at the University of Frankfurt/Main and the University of Kiel, in Germany, and the University of California, Davis and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, in the United States. He has authored more than 145 articles in peer-reviewed journals and written 20 books including university textbooks and popular science for both adults and children.

Emotional dampening of antidepressants

Emotional dampening of antidepressants

MedicineNeurobiologyNeurosciencePharmacy

By José Ramón Alonso

Serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is a neurotransmitter involved in various cognitive and affective functions. Drugs targeting serotonin transmission, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are the first-line pharmacological treatments for many neuropsychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety. These antidepressants increase the concentration in the synaptic space of this neurotransmitter […]

Pain and autism

Pain and autism

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

Pain is a complex sensation that is mediated by both the peripheral and central nervous systems. In the peripheral nervous system, pain signals are generated by nerve fibers called nociceptors that respond to harmful stimuli. These signals are then transmitted to the brain through the spinal cord, where they are processed and interpreted as pain […]

mTOR and rapamycin in autism spectrum disorders

mTOR and rapamycin in autism spectrum disorders

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

mTOR has nothing to do with Norse mythology, it stands for “mammalian target of rapamycin” or “target of rapamycin in mammalian cells”. mTOR is involved in important cellular processes, including growth, proliferation, motility, survival, protein synthesis, transcription and autophagy. The history of rapamycin is so suggestive that I cannot avoid mentioning it: in the 1960s […]

Increased density of synapses in autism spectrum disorders

Increased density of synapses in autism spectrum disorders

NeurobiologyNeuroscience

By José Ramón Alonso

At a synapse, the plasma membrane of the neuron transmitting the information (the presynaptic neuron) is in close proximity to the membrane of the target cell (postsynaptic) and the two are separated by a space known as the synaptic cleft. Both the presynaptic and postsynaptic sites contain extensive assemblies of molecular machinery that link the […]