Depression is much more than feeling sad. For many people, one of the most painful parts of depression is losing motivation. Simple tasks that once seemed easy can suddenly feel overwhelming.
Getting out of bed, taking a shower, answering messages, going to work, or meeting friends can require enormous effort. People with depression often say they want to do these things, but they simply cannot find the energy or drive to get started.
Modern treatments for depression have helped millions of people. Many antidepressant medications can improve mood and reduce feelings of sadness and anxiety. However, these medicines do not always solve the problem of low motivation.
Some people continue to struggle with a lack of energy and interest in life even when other symptoms improve. This has led scientists to search for new ways to treat depression and to better understand what causes people to lose motivation in the first place.
A new study from Emory University has provided an intriguing possibility. Researchers found that a medicine called infliximab, which is normally used to treat inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, may help improve motivation in people with depression. The findings were published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
Scientists have increasingly become interested in the role of inflammation in depression. Inflammation is part of the body’s natural defense system. It helps protect us from infections and injuries.
However, when inflammation becomes long-lasting or overactive, it can damage tissues and affect many parts of the body, including the brain. Some researchers believe that excessive inflammation may contribute to depression and may be particularly important in causing low motivation and loss of pleasure.
Infliximab works by blocking a substance in the body called tumor necrosis factor, or TNF. TNF is one of the chemicals that drives inflammation. By reducing this inflammatory response, researchers hoped that the medicine might also improve symptoms of depression.
The study involved 42 people with depression who also showed signs of high levels of inflammation. The researchers measured inflammation using a blood test for a protein called C-reactive protein, or CRP. All participants had CRP levels higher than 3, indicating that their bodies had increased inflammation.
The participants were randomly assigned to receive either infliximab or a placebo, which looked like the real treatment but contained no active medicine. Over the following two weeks, the scientists carefully measured changes in motivation and brain activity.
The researchers used several methods to assess motivation. They asked participants how much effort they were willing to make to earn rewards. They also performed brain scans to examine activity in areas of the brain that play important roles in motivation, reward, and decision-making. In addition, participants completed questionnaires about how they were feeling.
The results were encouraging. People who received infliximab became more willing to work for rewards than those who received the placebo.
Their brain scans also showed greater activity in several important regions, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, and putamen. These areas help people experience reward, make decisions, and feel motivated to take action.
The researchers also found that communication between these brain regions improved. This suggests that reducing inflammation may help the brain’s motivation system work more efficiently.
Dr. Michael Treadway, the lead author of the study, said this was the first time researchers had observed an anti-inflammatory medicine directly affecting the brain systems involved in motivation. He explained that it was exciting to see evidence that lowering inflammation might improve one of the most difficult symptoms of depression.
Dr. Andrew Miller, another key researcher involved in the study, said the findings open the door to a new way of thinking about depression treatment. Instead of focusing only on brain chemicals such as serotonin, doctors may eventually also consider inflammation as an important target for treatment.
The researchers emphasize that more studies are still needed. This was a relatively small study, and scientists do not yet know how long the benefits may last or whether infliximab would be safe and effective as a long-term treatment for depression.
Nevertheless, the findings offer fresh hope, particularly for people whose depression has not improved with standard therapies. Understanding the role of inflammation may eventually lead to new treatments that help people regain not only their mood but also their motivation and enjoyment of life.
If you care about mental health, please read studies about how dairy foods may influence depression risk, and 6 foods you can eat to improve mental health.
For more mental health information, please see recent studies about top foods to tame your stress, and Omega-3 fats may help reduce depression.
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