Many people with depression find it hard to feel motivated. Even getting out of bed or doing simple tasks can feel like a struggle.
While there are medications that help with mood, they often don’t fix the problem of low motivation. But a new study from Emory University offers hope that an existing drug might help.
Researchers tested a medicine called infliximab, which is normally used to treat diseases like arthritis. In this study, they found it could help improve motivation in people with depression. The results were published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
Lack of motivation is one of the hardest parts of depression. It can make it difficult to work, enjoy life, or even get treatment. It also increases the risk of suicide. Scientists believe this loss of motivation might be caused by inflammation in the body—when the immune system is overactive and causes damage.
This new study is the first to look closely at how infliximab changes motivation and brain activity in people with depression. The drug works by blocking a substance in the body called TNF (tumor necrosis factor), which causes inflammation.
The research included 42 people with depression who also had signs of high inflammation. This was measured using a blood test for a protein called CRP. All the participants had CRP levels higher than 3, which shows their bodies were inflamed.
The participants were randomly given either infliximab or a placebo (a fake treatment with no real drug). Then, over the next two weeks, researchers measured their motivation in several ways.
They asked how much effort people were willing to make to earn rewards. They used brain scans to watch activity in areas of the brain that are connected to motivation. And they gave out questionnaires to see how the patients felt.
Those who got the real drug were more willing to work for rewards than those who got the placebo. Their brain scans also showed more activity in areas like the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, and putamen—parts of the brain linked to motivation and reward.
These areas were also better connected to each other, which means their brains may have been working more smoothly.
Dr. Michael Treadway, the lead author of the study, said this is the first time scientists have seen an anti-inflammatory drug affect the brain’s motivation system directly. He said it was exciting to see that reducing inflammation could help fix one of the toughest parts of depression.
Dr. Andrew Miller, another key researcher, added that this study gives hope for a new way to treat depression. Instead of only focusing on brain chemicals like serotonin, doctors could also look at inflammation as a target for treatment.
Of course, more research is needed. This was a small study, and scientists want to understand how long the effects last and whether infliximab is safe to use for this purpose in the long term. But for now, this research gives new hope to people whose depression doesn’t improve with standard treatments.
If you care about mental health, please read studies about Middle-aged women with no kids may have this mental issue and findings of scientists find a cause of mental illnesses induced by childhood abuse.
For more about mental health, please read studies about Frequent painkiller use linked to mental health risks in these people and findings of Common depression drugs may offer new treatment for bipolar disorder.
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