Mirko Diksic, Ph.D.

Professor - Cyclotron-Radiochemistry Lab

Dr. Diksic studies the regulation of serotonin production in different regions of the brain,using experimental animals as well as human subjects. Dr. Diksic’s work suggests that serotonin synthesis is variously controlled in different brain structures. He has studied fluoxotin (Prozac), fluoxomine, and phenfluoromine, as well as the drug known as Ecstasy, which dramatically increases serotonin synthesis. Dr. Diksic has found large differences in serotonin synthesis in men and women that might contribute to the higher incidence of depression among women. Dr. Diksic is synthesizing radioactive-labelled compounds that enable researchers to study the monoamenergic and GABAergic systems in the living brain. With Dr. Barbara Jones, he is studying the GABAergic system in sleep states. He is studying serotonin synthesis with respect to epilepsy; and with Dr. Edith Hamel he studies this synthesis with regard to migraines.