Depression associated with sustained brain signals
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 - 04:35
in Health & Medicine
Depression and schizophrenia can be triggered by environmental stimuli and often occur in response to stressful life events. However, some people have a higher predisposition to develop these diseases, which highlights a role for genetics in determining a person's disease risk. A high number of people with depression have a genetic change that alters a protein that cells use to talk to each other in the brain. Imaging of people with depression also shows that they have greater activity in some areas of their brain. Unfortunately, the techniques that are currently available have not been able to determine why stress induces pathological changes for some people and how their genetics contribute to disease.