Deep Brain Scanning Shows Some People Are Pre-Wired for Depression

By scanning the brains of a group of people with depression, researchers have found a network of neurons that predisposes the individuals to depression.

Before now, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is the usual go-to when studying brain activity to understand depression.

Problem is, brain activity is different for every person.

This poses a challenge. Since all the samples (brain activity) are different, how do you study them under the same lens?

Plus, the brain activity of a single person can change over time, as they fluctuate between periods of sadness, happiness, pain, etc.

To address this, researchers used fMRI to scan the brains of a group of people a plethora of times over several months. This scanning is deeper and more extensive than the regular ones done prior.

The researchers found that in most of the participants with clinical depression, a brain feature known as the salience network is almost two times bigger than in healthy individuals.

Past studies suggest that this salience network is involved with reward processing.

Reward processing. Ring any bells yet?

A common symptom of depression is a deficit in reward processing a.k.a anhedonia, which is the inability to feel pleasure or enjoy fun activities.

So it makes sense that a brain feature linked with reward processing would be involved in depression.

But that's not the most intriguing revelation.

The researchers discovered that people with larger salience networks in childhood are more at risk of developing depression in adulthood.

More like, they were pre-wired from childhood to have depression.

Well, there's a silver lining.

According to Dr. Conor Liston, the findings from this deep scanning are larger than what normal fMRI studies usually reveal.

These findings can enhance early detection and intervention for people at risk of depression. Perhaps, they may even open up new treatment models.

The researchers said they'll be working on using deep scanning to find out how current depression treatments work. Of course, if we know what makes a treatment effective, we can focus our efforts in that direction to improve outcomes.

That said, they'll need to repeatedly replicate the results of this deep scanning approach before it can confidently be used clinically.

Battling depression?

At Hope Mental Health, we deploy several techniques—from psychotherapy to medication—to bring you the relief you need.

Get in touch today.

Author

Satu H. Woodland, PMHCNS-BC, APRN Satu Woodland is owner and clinician of Hope Mental Health, an integrative mental health practice located at Bown Crossing in Boise, Idaho. She sees children, adolescents, and adults.  Ms. Woodland with her background in nursing, prefers a holistic and integrative approach to mental health care that addresses the mind and body together. While Ms. Woodland provides medication management services in all her patients, she believes in long-lasting solutions that include a number of psychotherapies, namely cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure and response prevention therapy, attention to lifestyle, evidenced based alternative psychiatric care and spirituality. If you’d like to gain control over your mental health issues, call Hope Mental Health at 208-918-0958, or use the online scheduling tool to set up an initial consultation.