William Atkins
Wednesday, 25 March 2009 21:04
Science -
Biology
Page 1 of 2
According to a U.S. research team study, the thinning of the cortex of the brain means that you may have inherited an increased risk of depression from your ancestors.
[Updated on March 27, 2009, per reader's comments.]
In an upcoming early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (
PNAS), under the article
“Cortical thinning in persons at increased familial risk for major depression”, Columbia University Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute researchers identified structural markers in the cortex part of the brain that implicate a higher risk for depression.
The brain's cortex is the outermost (superficial) layer of the brain.
The March 23, 2009 Columbia University article
Columbia Researchers Identify Early Brain Marker for Familial Form of Depression says that the
“Largest-Ever Imaging Study of Depression Implicates Structural Changes in Brain’s Cortex.”
The researchers, led by
Myrma Weissman and
Bradley Peterson, found that a thinning to the right hemisphere of the brain has a connection to a higher risk for depression.
They found, specifically, that there was a higher risk of developing depression in people who had a 28% thinning of the right cortex, as opposed to people who did not have any such thinning in the brain’s outermost surface area.
Dr. Peterson states,
“The difference was so great that at first we almost didn’t believe it. But we checked and re-checked all of our data, and we looked for all possible alternative explanations, and still the difference was there.” [Columbia University]
Peterson commented in the Medical News Today article
Inherited Depression Linked To Brain Cortex Thinning,
“Our findings suggest rather strongly that if you have thinning in the right hemisphere of the brain, you may be predisposed to depression and may also have some cognitive and inattention issues."
Page two concludes.
