Attitudes change naturally and everyone experiences ups and downs in their lives But in some cases the mood swings may take longer.

Attitudes change naturally and everyone experiences ups and downs in their lives

But in some cases the mood swings may take longer.

Depression can also impair a person's ability to handle work, or maintain meaningful relationships.

It is estimated that up to 10 percent of people at some point in their lives will suffer from mood disorders,

characterized by several symptoms,

feeling sad.

Depressed

I would be encouraged,

Excessive fatigue,

And the loss of interest in the once pleasurable activities known as anhedonia

Many people with depression also experience anxiety.

Neuroimaging research reveals that many brain regions that normally control mood are affected by stress.

Located deep in the brain the amygdala processes the most prominent motives such as rewards and potential threats.

In depression the amygdala is overactive and overreacts to adverse events.

The amygdala then connects to a set of brain regions that train the body and behavior

Responding to sensory stimuli these areas include the medial prefrontal cortex nucleus accumbens.

hippocampus as well,

insula,

The hippocampus is involved in memory formation and the prefrontal cortex is particularly vulnerable to the effects of stress.

Depressed people are at greater risk of depression that can cause physical changes in the brain including atrophy of the hippocampus.

These and other changes in depressed people may trigger negative responses to emotional events.

The medial prefrontal cortex is involved in controlling how strongly we respond to emotional stimuli.

Treatments such as antidepressants behavioral therapy and electroconvulsive therapy,

affects the structure and function of these and other regions of the brain.

Animal models such as mice are important in helping us understand cell phones and cells,

changes underlying depression and promotes better treatment.

Although it is impossible to know if the mouse is depressed.

My chronic stress shows symptoms similar to those of depressed people.

Such concerns as behavior are less social communication and a lack of interest in normal pleasurable activities.

Although not all human stress is caused by stress these models can still shed light on stress biology,

and they are the closest scientists who can find them while studying mice like them.

In humans chronic stress in mice can lead to atrophy of the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex.

Mice studies also showed changes in neuronal plasticity in various areas of the brain including the hippocampus.

The prefrontal cortex amygdala and nucleus accumbens.

In a healthy hippocampus,

Experience can lead to changes in communication between neurons leading to the study of these changes called plastic.

chronic stress can reduce this plasticity,

The healthy brain continues to produce new neurons in one part of the hippocampus.

These new neurons mature slowly and are integrated into a cycle where they have a strong impact on hippocampal function and behavior.

These new neurons are also affected by stress. They reduce the amount in the stressed brain.

These effects may be the result of reduced levels of neurotrophins proteins that increase neuronal growth and plasticity.

Reduced plasticity may stop the hippocampus from being able to effectively control the stress response.

Which can lead to a vicious cycle in which stress causes more stress.

The hippocampus is severely affected,

But there may be a decrease in plasticity,

elsewhere in the brain and together these changes can contribute to other symptoms of depression such as dona.

Whether these cellular mutations seen in mice are involved in human stress is still unclear.

Many of the antidepressants available today rapidly increase the number of neurotransmitters serotonin

and / or norepinephrine at synapse.

However the development of symptoms in patients and mice usually does not occur until weeks after starting treatment.

Although the reasons for this delay can not be fully understood.

Long-term treatment with antidepressants may work to reverse some of the changes caused by chronic stress.

increasing the expression of neurotrophins and reactivating hippocampal plasticity

Non-chemical treatment for depression involving electroconvulsive shock is also a stimulant, hippocampal plasticity in mice.

Antidepressant treatment can also reverse changes caused by stress in other areas of the brain including the prefrontal cortex.

and rewarding districts

Alternative therapies may target different regions to improve symptoms.

The drug ketamine was recently found to be a potent antidepressant.

Impact on depressed patients and mouse models with side effects lasting days way back.

This is an area of ​​practical research

Ketamine blocks a form of synaptic transmission.

Leading to the activation of a number of mechanisms to express the growing expression of neurotrophins

these molecular changes lead to increased plasticity in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus .

Anwar said advocate