Changes In Structure And Connection
There are many components to our brains. Shrinkage is one example of how the areas of the brain can change structurally. However, depression can also affect the brain by increasing the size of certain areas or changing their shape. Because of this, how the areas of the brain interact and communicate with each other can be altered by depression.
Changes in the structure of the brain due to depression usually takes at least 8 months to become apparent. These changes can result in long-lasting or permanent shifts in memory, attention, mood, and emotions–even after a major depressive episode has ended.
Risk Factors For Depression
Depression can affect anyoneeven a person who appears to live in relatively ideal circumstances.
Several factors can play a role in depression:
- Biochemistry: Differences in certain chemicals in the brain may contribute to symptoms of depression.
- Genetics: Depression can run in families. For example, if one identical twin has depression, the other has a 70 percent chance of having the illness sometime in life.
- Personality: People with low self-esteem, who are easily overwhelmed by stress, or who are generally pessimistic appear to be more likely to experience depression.
- Environmental factors: Continuous exposure to violence, neglect, abuse or poverty may make some people more vulnerable to depression.
Depression And Substance Abuse
Symptoms of depression can be debilitating, and feel overwhelming. Because of this, individuals with depression are more likely to develop an abusive relationship with drugs, alcohol, and other substances. Substance abuse and depression go hand in hand. People with depression may seek a sense of control or escape by using alcohol to numb the emotional symptoms of depression.
Conversely, the use of drugs and alcohol can trigger and enhance depressive symptoms and have other damaging repercussions. It is estimated that 30% of people with substance abuse problems experience depression. The pairing of substance abuse and depression is dangerous, We strongly urge individuals with depression to seek professional help and to avoid drugs and alcohol.
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The Role Of Stress In Depression
There is clear evidence showing that emotional and social stress can lead to clinical depression. While it may seem intuitive how stress can contribute to symptoms of depression, stress doesnt just make us feel overwhelmed and frazzled: it changes our biology.
Stress can trigger the release of hormones and other chemicals that affect many systems in the body. For example, stress can lead to inflammation, changes in blood sugar and the gut microbiome, and more.
When our bodies are not healthy, this response to stress can become exaggerated, leading to chronic or higher levels of inflammation and other changes. This can set the stage for depression.
Temporal Aspects Of Depression And Drug Strategies
Not only are there different subtypes of depression, but the disease too has a temporal aspect that is not well understood. Some people experience depression for short periods of time, and others can be depressed for years. In a new study published April 11, 2019 in Science, Liston and his lab looked at the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the induction and remission of depressive episodes.
For this project, the researchers relied on mouse models and optogenetic tools. What we set out to do was follow, track, and quantify the remodeling of synapses in the living brain, using advanced imaging methods in mice, says Liston. The researchers tracked these synapses in real-time, watching how they were affected by stress and antidepressants.
Going into the study, Liston knew that antidepressants increased synapse connections. The connection between depression and synapse loss and formation, however, was unclear. The question the researchers wanted to answer was this: Are the two causally involved or merely correlated?
Working with Haruo Kasai and Haruhiko Bitocollaborators at the University of Tokyo who developed optogenetic tools for deleting new synapsesListons work was able to show that new synapses are required for sustaining antidepressant behavioral effects and maintaining remission over time. Interestingly, however, the synapses were not necessary to induce behavioral changes initially.
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The Role Of Biology In Depression: A Whole
Research has now proven that when it comes to mental health, it truly isnt all in your head. For depression, mood disorders, and other mental illnesses, we have to consider the health of the body as a whole.
In this section, we review the body systems that are currently thought to be most involved in stress and depression. Because this is an emerging field, this information is meant to illustrate the different types of biological issues we should be thinking about and is not meant to be definitive or complete.
Causes Of Low Neurotransmitter Levels
If low levels of neurotransmitters can contribute to depression, an important question is what causes the low levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, or dopamine in the first place? When there is a breakdown anywhere in the process, low levels of neurotransmitters can result.
Research has indicated several potential causes of chemical imbalances in the brain, including:
- Molecules that help make neurotransmitters are in short supply
- Not enough receptor sites to receive the neurotransmitter
- Presynaptic cells are taking the neurotransmitter back up before it has a chance to reach the receptor cell
- Too few of the molecules that build neurotransmitters
- Too little of a specific neurotransmitter is being produced
Several emerging theories are concerned with the factors that promote lowered levels, such as cellular stress. But one of the main challenges for researchers and doctors hoping to connect depression to low levels of specific brain chemicals is that they don’t have a way to consistently and accurately measure them.
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Depression And Physical Health
Depression is widely thought of as a mood disorder based in the brain, but it is in fact a whole-body disorder. Lethargy, for example, is a common sign of depression that robs people of the will to move. But the links between depression and the body are more than just psychological. Depression has effects on body metabolism that limit available mental and physical energy. Depression negatively affects almost every system of the body. It disrupts sleep, affects appetite, alters the perception of pain, and weakens immunityin addition to darkening your thinking and your outlook so that you cant envision a brighter future ahead. Depression is so much a body disorder that experts believe that the vast majority of cases show up in doctors offices expressed primarily in physical symptoms such a chronic pain and fatigue.
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Depression And Brain Shrinkage
Thanks to neuroimaging and medical technology, scientists have observed that untreated major depressive disorder causes structural brain changes. Researchers have discovered that some brain areas shrink when depression becomes a long-term mental illness, while others become amorphous.
One of the reasons for this is that these brain areas lose or modify their gray matter volume . But which brain regions are most affected during depressive episodes?
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Brain Regions And Mood
Popular lore has it that emotions reside in the heart. Science, though, tracks the seat of your emotions to the brain. Certain areas of the brain help regulate mood. Researchers believe that more important than levels of specific brain chemicals nerve cell connections, nerve cell growth, and the functioning of nerve circuits have a major impact on depression.
Increasingly sophisticated forms of brain imaging such as positron emission tomography , single-photon emission computed tomography , and functional magnetic resonance imaging permit a much closer look at the working brain than was possible in the past. An fMRI scan, for example, can track changes that take place when a region of the brain responds during various tasks. A PET or SPECT scan can map the brain by measuring the distribution and density of neurotransmitter receptors in certain areas.
Use of this technology has led to a better understanding of which brain regions regulate mood and how other functions, such as memory, may be affected by depression. Areas that play a significant role in depression are the amygdala, the thalamus, and the hippocampus .
Figure 1: Areas of the brain involved with depression
The regions shown here are mirrored in both hemispheres of the brain. Also, these structures are interlocking the illustration suggests relative position but not precise location.
Depression Is Different From Sadness Or Grief/bereavement
The death of a loved one, loss of a job or the ending of a relationship are difficult experiences for a person to endure. It is normal for feelings of sadness or grief to develop in response to such situations. Those experiencing loss often might describe themselves as being depressed.
But being sad is not the same as having depression. The grieving process is natural and unique to each individual and shares some of the same features of depression. Both grief and depression may involve intense sadness and withdrawal from usual activities. They are also different in important ways:
- In grief, painful feelings come in waves, often intermixed with positive memories of the deceased. In major depression, mood and/or interest are decreased for most of two weeks.
- In grief, self-esteem is usually maintained. In major depression, feelings of worthlessness and self-loathing are common.
- In grief, thoughts of death may surface when thinking of or fantasizing about joining the deceased loved one. In major depression, thoughts are focused on ending ones life due to feeling worthless or undeserving of living or being unable to cope with the pain of depression.
Grief and depression can co-exist For some people, the death of a loved one, losing a job or being a victim of a physical assault or a major disaster can lead to depression. When grief and depression co-occur, the grief is more severe and lasts longer than grief without depression.
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Treating Depression Minimizes The Risk Of Some Illnesses
A two-way relationship exists between depression and some illnesses. One in four people with cardiac issues have depression, but individuals with depression also have a 64 percent greater risk of developing coronary artery disease. Similarly, diabetes and depression occur together approximately twice as frequently as chance alone would predict. While depression can affect your general health, you can leverage this information now to find treatment that will enhance your overall well-being in the long term. In fact, according to the highly encouraging findings of one Indiana study that followed up with people over eight years, treating depression as soon as possible decreased the risk of strokes and heart attacks by half. This does not mean that depression causes strokes or heart attacks directly. Rather, exercising less, eating less healthily, or smoking more during a bout of depression could elevate the risks associated with heart problems and diabetes. Depression can also weaken the immune system, making it tougher to fight off infections. The good news is that reaching out for depression treatment may help to improve your physical health as well.
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Quick Read How Depression Affects Your Body And Mind
- Depression is a serious but relatively common mental illness.
- Anyone can develop depression, and it is a leading cause of disability worldwide.
- Brain chemical imbalances may contribute to depression.
- Other brain areas, such as the hippocampus, are involved as well.
- Symptoms include tiredness, appetite changes and lack of energy and pleasure.
- There is no cure for depression, but it is treatable with medications and therapy.
One thing we often dont recognize about mental health issues is that they affect so much more than the mind. Depression is no exception.
From sleep and eating to cognition and motivation, depression can affect most aspects of someones life.
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Treatment Technology: Brain Chemistry And Depression
How does depression affect the brain? Research continues to reveal answers, and Deep TMS takes advantage of the most current knowledge about brain connectivity and plasticity. These treatments may give symptom relief when depression has not been responsive to other treatments. As the brain is better understood, technology will continue to have a vital role in the evolution of depression assessment.
Onset Of Depression More Complex Than A Brain Chemical Imbalance
It’s often said that depression results from a chemical imbalance, but that figure of speech doesn’t capture how complex the disease is. Research suggests that depression doesn’t spring from simply having too much or too little of certain brain chemicals. Rather, there are many possible causes of depression, including faulty mood regulation by the brain, genetic vulnerability, and stressful life events. It’s believed that several of these forces interact to bring on depression.
To be sure, chemicals are involved in this process, but it is not a simple matter of one chemical being too low and another too high. Rather, many chemicals are involved, working both inside and outside nerve cells. There are millions, even billions, of chemical reactions that make up the dynamic system that is responsible for your mood, perceptions, and how you experience life.
With this level of complexity, you can see how two people might have similar symptoms of depression, but the problem on the inside, and therefore what treatments will work best, may be entirely different.
This article will address the how different parts of the brain affect mood.
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How Depression Affects The Brain
No one knows for sure what causes depression, but researchers have determined that it is definitely a disorder that has biological underpinnings and that the chemistry of the brain plays a big role. Studies have uncovered how differences in the brains structure and chemicals may contribute to depression, but also ways that having depression changes your brain:
How Is Depression Treated
Depression is among the most treatable of mental disorders. Between 80% and 90% percent of people with depression eventually respond well to treatment. Almost all patients gain some relief from their symptoms.
Before a diagnosis or treatment, a health professional should conduct a thorough diagnostic evaluation, including an interview and a physical examination. In some cases, a blood test might be done to make sure the depression is not due to a medical condition like a thyroid problem or a vitamin deficiency . The evaluation will identify specific symptoms and explore medical and family histories as well as cultural and environmental factors with the goal of arriving at a diagnosis and planning a course of action.
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Can Depression Affect Pain
Statistics indicate that millions of Americans suffer from chronic painas well as 20 percent of people worldwideespecially low back pain. Chronic pain is a significant stress on the body that can itself induce depression. Studies show that depression also causes changes in the network of brain areas involved in processing physical pain, including the cortex and lower-brain centers. The pain network appears to be hyperactive in depression, and the degree of activity that can be seen in such areas on brain scans correlates with the severity of depression that patients experience.
Researchers also find that when antidepressants have an effect on depression, it is at least in part by reducing the activity of the pain pathways. What doctors havent figured out yet is why heightened pain is experienced so differently among patients, with some experiencing pain as mental anguish and other having somatic complaints of physical pain.
How Alcohol Affects Our Brain Chemistry
The brain relies on a delicate balance of chemicals and processes. Alcohol is a depressant, which means it can disrupt that balance, affecting our thoughts, feelings and actions and sometimes our long-term mental health. This is partly down to neurotransmitters, which are chemicals that help to transmit signals from one nerve in the brain to another.
For example, the relaxed feeling we can experience if we have a drink is due to the chemical changes alcohol has caused in the brain. A drink can make some people feel more confident and less anxious, as the alcohol begins to suppress the part of the brain associated with inhibition.
As we drink more, the impact on our brain function increases. And regardless of the mood were in, with increasing alcohol consumption, its possible that negative emotions will take over, leading to a negative impact on mental health. Alcohol can be linked to aggression and some people report becoming angry, aggressive, anxious or depressed when they drink.
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What Does This Mean For Treatment
There are two promising and constructive messages to take from this evolving science.
Firstly, these brain changes are reversiblethey can be remedied. Some depression treatments might even trigger the growth of new nerve cells and strengthen novel connections between cells.
Secondly, our understanding of the brains biology has helped researchers design targeted and effective depression treatments. This knowledge could deliver treatments to you with a dedicated approach that suits you best.
Why Does A Major Depressive Disorder Change Your Brain
When you suffer from depression, your brain is physically changed. Research by the National Institutes of Health shows that you lose gray matter volume when you suffer from depression. This loss is caused by parts of your brain shrinking due to the hormone cortisol impeding the growth of your brain cells.
The more serious depression a person suffers, the more GMV they lose. Since GMV contains most of your neurons or nerve cells, slowed growth means that your cognitive capabilities are at risk of impairment.
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