Depression And Stress Can Cause The Loss of Brain Volume – literally making the brain shrink, a US Study Has Found.

You may like to whisk your days away inflicting pain unto yourself, depressed and low. Your brain may not like it all that well, that is what a recent study says.

 Severe depression and chronic stress can shrink the brain by blocking the formation of new nerve connections, a study has shown.

The effect disrupts circuits associated with mental functioning and emotion. Severe depression or chronic stress can cause your brain to shrink and lead to emotional and cognitive impairment, a new study has claimed. A team of researchers led by Yale scientists discovered that one reason for this condition is a single genetic switch that triggers loss of brain connections in humans and depression in animal models.

The findings, published in the journal 'Nature Medicine' , show that the genetic switch known as a transcription factor represses the expression of several genes that are necessary for the formation of synaptic connections between brain cells, which in turn could contribute to loss of brain mass in the pre frontal cortex of the brain. 

 

Researchers from Yale have identified a ‘genetic switch’ which stops connections being built between synapses in the brain whenever a person is feeling particularly stressed or depressed.

This, over time, results in the loss of brain mass in the pre frontal cortex – the part of the brain responsible for ‘executive function’ such as determining good or bad, decision making and personality expression.

Senior author Ronald Duman said he had “wanted to test the idea that stress causes a loss of brain synapses in humans”.

His team analysed brain tissue from depressed and non-depressed patients, sourced from a brain bank – and found that the brains of people who had suffered from depression had a lower presence of the gene expression that builds links between synapses.

ScienceDaily.com explains that one researcher found that at least five of these genes could be linked to a single transcription factor, or ‘genetic switch’.

Activating this switch in lab rodents, the researchers found that the rodents also began to show depressive behaviour – indicating that depression may trigger a vicious cycle of stunted synaptic growth, which then leads to further depressive episodes.

 He said that the research could be used to develop new techniques for rebuilding synaptic connections – either through medications or therapy – and ultimately lead to more effective methods for improving mental health.

 So, don’t worry and be happy.Regular exercise is a major weapon against depression.