According to a new study, the physical roots of depression are tied to increased functional connectivity between a brain region that is associated with not receiving rewards and punishing events (the lateral orbitofrontal cortex) and an area of the brain involved in someone’s sense of self (the precuneus). This cutting-edge discovery was published today in the journal Brain.
For this study, 909 people (421 patients with major depressive disorder and 488 control subjects) had their brains scanned using advanced MRI neuroimaging technology. Then, the internationalteam of researchers analyzed each person’s functional connectivity between different brain regions. The scientists were able to pinpoint specific neural networks and patterns of functional connectivity between brain regions associated with depression.
Specifically, the researchers found that depression is linked to altered connectivity within various regions of the orbitofrontal cortex(OFC). Interestingly, the medial OFC ‘reward’ systems and lateral OFC ‘non-reward’ systems change connectivity in opposite directions. These findings help to explain the neurobiological underpinnings of how depression is linked with the dejected feeling of not receiving a reward, unhappy memories, and low self-esteem.
[For more of this story, written by Christopher Bergland, go to https://www.psychologytoday.co...cal-roots-depression]
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