**2. Putative neuroplastic mechanisms of pharmacotherapy**

Pharmacotherapy constitutes first-line treatment modality for majority of psychiatric disorders, and various theories exist as to how drug-induced neurochemical changes reverse different psychiatric symptoms. The posited purely neurotransmitter-based mechanism of action postulates either increased or reduced synaptic concentration of a target neurotransmitter that is implicated in a given disorder. This model is challenged by disjunction in the timescale of the onset of neurochemical versus therapeutic effects, wherein the potentiation or attenuation of neurotransmitter function often occurs within hours of administration and the clinical improvement is typically seen days or weeks after [3]. In quest of new rapidacting agents, contemporary approaches to understanding of drug action focus on the role of adaptive neuroplastic processes that correlate in time with the onset of clinical improvement, hence are hypothesized to represent a more direct treatment target.
