Dr. Chris Palmer

That was just a purely serendipitous finding. It was serendipity. The first antidepressant was actually a tuberculosis treatment. They were giving it to patients on a tuberculosis ward. And an astute infectious disease doctor noticed some of these patients are really depressed. But when I give them this tuberculosis treatment, they perk up.

Within a few weeks, they start looking a lot less depressed. And I don't think it's a coincidence. I think it's the medication I'm giving them. Do you recall what the drug was? Abraniazide. It's the first MAO inhibitor. And I could be saying the name wrong, but it's first MAO inhibitor. And that became the first antidepressant.

Within a few weeks, they start looking a lot less depressed. And I don't think it's a coincidence. I think it's the medication I'm giving them. Do you recall what the drug was? Abraniazide. It's the first MAO inhibitor. And I could be saying the name wrong, but it's first MAO inhibitor. And that became the first antidepressant.

Within a few weeks, they start looking a lot less depressed. And I don't think it's a coincidence. I think it's the medication I'm giving them. Do you recall what the drug was? Abraniazide. It's the first MAO inhibitor. And I could be saying the name wrong, but it's first MAO inhibitor. And that became the first antidepressant.

So most people know mitochondria as the powerhouse of the cell, if they know it at all. So these tiny little organelles... And the powerhouse of the cell reference means that mitochondria take the breakdown products of the food that we're eating. They are the primary thing using the oxygen that we're breathing in. They are creating the carbon dioxide that we're breathing out.

So most people know mitochondria as the powerhouse of the cell, if they know it at all. So these tiny little organelles... And the powerhouse of the cell reference means that mitochondria take the breakdown products of the food that we're eating. They are the primary thing using the oxygen that we're breathing in. They are creating the carbon dioxide that we're breathing out.

So most people know mitochondria as the powerhouse of the cell, if they know it at all. So these tiny little organelles... And the powerhouse of the cell reference means that mitochondria take the breakdown products of the food that we're eating. They are the primary thing using the oxygen that we're breathing in. They are creating the carbon dioxide that we're breathing out.

And that they are turning food into ATP, which is the energy currency of the cell. So they're taking food and oxygen and lots of other things, but let's just simplify food and oxygen, converting it into ATP. And that is what the powerhouse of the cell kind of refers to. There is no doubt they do that.

And that they are turning food into ATP, which is the energy currency of the cell. So they're taking food and oxygen and lots of other things, but let's just simplify food and oxygen, converting it into ATP. And that is what the powerhouse of the cell kind of refers to. There is no doubt they do that.

And that they are turning food into ATP, which is the energy currency of the cell. So they're taking food and oxygen and lots of other things, but let's just simplify food and oxygen, converting it into ATP. And that is what the powerhouse of the cell kind of refers to. There is no doubt they do that.

There is no doubt that when that process stops, humans have about six minutes or so, and then we're dead. That process is critical to life. There is no other process in the human body that you can disrupt. that will kill the organism faster. It is central to living organisms, this production of ATP.

There is no doubt that when that process stops, humans have about six minutes or so, and then we're dead. That process is critical to life. There is no other process in the human body that you can disrupt. that will kill the organism faster. It is central to living organisms, this production of ATP.

There is no doubt that when that process stops, humans have about six minutes or so, and then we're dead. That process is critical to life. There is no other process in the human body that you can disrupt. that will kill the organism faster. It is central to living organisms, this production of ATP.

So I don't at all mean to take away or minimize that function, but research over the last 25 years has completely upended that simplistic notion of what mitochondria are doing. They are actually doing so much more. Some people have created the reference that mitochondria are like the workers inside a cell.

So I don't at all mean to take away or minimize that function, but research over the last 25 years has completely upended that simplistic notion of what mitochondria are doing. They are actually doing so much more. Some people have created the reference that mitochondria are like the workers inside a cell.

So I don't at all mean to take away or minimize that function, but research over the last 25 years has completely upended that simplistic notion of what mitochondria are doing. They are actually doing so much more. Some people have created the reference that mitochondria are like the workers inside a cell.

that in order for a cell to work, you need a workforce because there's so much that needs to be done. Signals need to be sent. Like all this work, all of these different things need to be functioning. And mitochondria are absolutely providing the energy for those things to happen, but they're also orchestrating a lot of it. So for example,

that in order for a cell to work, you need a workforce because there's so much that needs to be done. Signals need to be sent. Like all this work, all of these different things need to be functioning. And mitochondria are absolutely providing the energy for those things to happen, but they're also orchestrating a lot of it. So for example,

that in order for a cell to work, you need a workforce because there's so much that needs to be done. Signals need to be sent. Like all this work, all of these different things need to be functioning. And mitochondria are absolutely providing the energy for those things to happen, but they're also orchestrating a lot of it. So for example,

They play a direct role in converting food into some of the substrates for the production of neurotransmitters. But they also go further. They store some neurotransmitters like GABA within themselves, and that plays a role in GABA's release from a neuron. They actually go to the cell membrane and move along the membrane itself. dispensing vesicles of neurotransmitters.