There is mounting evidence that schizophrenia and depression are polar extremes of the same processes. The neuronal microtubule cytoskeleton is regulated through the actions of microtubule-associated proteins, the centrosome, tubulin posttranslational modifications and differential expression of tubulin isoforms. It is beginning to be thought that they may be important in the development of consciousness itself. It is proposed here that cytoskeletal tensegrity architecture plays a pivotal role in the etiology of psychiatric conditions. If the subcellular architecture is too tense, schizophrenia, if to loose, depression. This review focuses on the role of the microtubule cytoskeleton in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. Schizophrenia appears to be a disorder of microtubule architecture, depression one of intracellular transport along microtubules and bipolar disorder shares aspects of both schizophrenia and depression. Both current and potential treatments for these disorders target the microtubule cytoskeleton.

Antidepressants, Autism, Cytoskeleton, Microtubules, Schizophrenia, Tensegrity