Meet the editor

Dr. Ying Qu is a multi-disciplinary scientist, currently working in Leulan Bioscience, USA. She received her BS and MS in Chemistry from Lanzhou University, China and her PhD in Neuroscience from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Dr. Qu has spent part of her career at the National Institutes of Health, USA, studying depression mechanisms underlying serotonin post-receptor regulated signaling transduction. She is also involved in a drug

discovery program at Johnson and Johnson in the USA developing novel dual-acting antidepressants with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. In 2002, she received a Sevier Young Investigator Award from the Serotonin Club at the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) Satellite Meeting on Serotonin. She has published over 30 peer-reviewed papers, 40 abstracts and two book chapters in the fields of neuropsychopharmacology and bioanalysis.

**Preface III**

**Chapter 1 1**

**Chapter 2 15**

**Chapter 3 37**

**Chapter 4 47**

*by Katiuska Satué Ambrojo, Juan Carlos Gardon Poggi and María Marcilla Corzano*

Introductory Chapter: From Measuring Serotonin Neurotransmission to

Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and Their Role in Chronic Pain Management

Evaluating Serotonin Post-Receptor Signaling Transduction

*by Adela Hilda Onuțu, Dan Sebastian Dîrzu and Cristina Petrișor*

Clinical Aspects Related to Plasma Serotonin in the Horse

Serotonin and Emotional Decision-Making

*byYing Qu*

Contents

*by Sara Puig Pérez*

## Contents


Preface

Serotonin is a monoamine neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS), whose well-known biological functions include modulating cognition, sleep, emo-

At any given time, over 4% of the global population suffers from a major depressive disorder. Among approved depression treatments are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). These are based on the serotonin hypothesis, which holds that low levels of extracellular serotonin causes depression; consequently, increasing extracellular serotonin can treat depression. Since the introduction of SSRIs, many

I started my neuroscience career by measuring serotonin in the brain of different animals during my PhD study. Later on, I became involved in depression mechanisms research and drug discovery. This scientific journey brought me from Lanzhou in China, Leuven in Belgium, Bethesda in the USA, all the way to San

Sometimes I pick up an assortment of scattered seashells while walking along the beautiful Torrey Pines Beach in San Diego. Likewise, this book contains an assortment of discussions of different aspects of serotonin to enrich our knowledge and

> **Ying Qu, PhD** Leulan Bioscience, San Diego, CA

tion, learning, memory, and numerous physiological processes.

books about serotonin have been published.

understanding of this neurochemical.

Diego.
