Depression, or major depressive disorder (MDD), is a really tough mental health issue that affects a lot of people.
It’s a tricky beast to understand because it involves many different parts of our brains.
Doctors and scientists have been working hard to find a reliable sign (or “biomarker”) that could help spot depression in the brain.
Some scientists in Korea have made a big breakthrough.
They found a biomarker for depression that could make diagnosing this disease a lot easier. Their study was published in a journal called Psychological Medicine.
Brain Folds and Depression
Our brains have an outer layer called the cortex. It’s full of folds, much like the wrinkles on your brain. These folds, or “gyri”, help the brain work properly.
The process of brain folding is called “gyrification.” If something goes wrong with this process, it can lead to mental health problems, like depression.
The Magic Measure: Local Gyrification Index (LGI)
In this study, the scientists looked at a measure called the “local gyrification index” (LGI). It’s a fancy way of measuring the brain’s folds from brain scans.
When they compared the LGI values in the brains of people with depression to those in healthy people, they found some big differences.
Unfolding the Findings
The scientists found that people with depression had fewer brain folds in some areas (a condition they called “hypogyrification”).
Seven brain areas had lower LGI values, including parts that help control our emotions. The biggest difference was in a part of the brain called the left pars triangularis.
Why It Matters
So, why do these findings matter? For one, this could help us understand why people with depression struggle with their emotions.
Also, these LGI values could be a good biomarker for depression because they show long-term brain development and aren’t easily changed.
The Road Ahead
This study was strong because it included a lot of participants. The scientists also noted that things like how often depression happens and how long it lasts were linked to more brain folds in some areas.
But, there wasn’t a big difference in LGI values between these areas in people with depression and healthy people.
Future studies might look at how our genes might make some of us more likely to have abnormal brain folds and, in turn, depression.
And this study could help doctors decide which parts of the brain to target when treating depression.
All in all, this study has given us a new way to understand depression. It’s a big step towards helping those who suffer from this difficult mental health problem.
If you care about mental health, please read studies about 6 foods you can eat to improve mental health and B vitamins could help prevent depression and anxiety.
For more information about mental health, please see recent studies about how dairy foods may influence depression risk, and results showing Omega-3 fats may help reduce depression.
The study was published in Psychological Medicine. Follow us on Twitter for more articles about this topic.
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