Lithium paper published 1949
Dr. John Cade published his landmark paper on lithium salts for psychotic excitement on September 3, 1949 in the Medical Journal of Australia.
Snapshot · Huberman Lab
Essentials: The Science & Treatment of Bipolar Disorder
Explore episode
Jul 16, 2026
Where this was said
Lithium Salts Paper, Toxicity & Monitoring
At 14:21 · chapter starts 13:19
Huberman pivots from the romance of discovery to the clinical realities of lithium therapy. Lithium carries a real toxicity burden — blood levels must be monitored rigorously, particularly in the first three months of treatment, because patient responses vary widely. It is not the kind of drug you can simply prescribe at a standard dose and walk away. Despite this, Huberman frames the side-effect challenge as motivation rather than deterrent: understanding exactly how lithium works at the cellular and circuit level is the only way to eventually develop better treatments that deliver the same benefits with fewer risks. Science's obligation, he argues, is never to accept 'we have something that works' as the final answer.
How Lithium Actually Works in the Brain
Lithium doesn't just calm moods — it protects neurons from being literally destroyed by their own overactivity. In bipolar disorder, hyperactive brain circuits flood cells with calcium and glutamate, killing the very neurons that fire. Lithium stops that process.
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