2023-09-29 08:22:07
by Danilo di Diodoro
A few weeks before depression returns, there are already signals in the cingulate cortex that the brain is about to re-enter pathological mode.
There is a brain area in which it is possible to read the presence of depression.
The accuracy of the forecast
the so-called cingulate cortex, a part of the cerebral cortex that plays an important role in emotional regulation. This possibility of reading depression is so precise that it even allows, while still in good psychological health, to predict a future relapse. In fact, a few weeks before depression manifests itself again, in this area there are already signs that the brain is about to re-enter pathological mode. In more technical terms it is said that a neurobiological marker of depression has been identified, which can also be used to verify the effect of various forms of antidepressant treatment.
The study (also with AI)
To be able to read the presence of this brain marker of depression, some researchers, coordinated by Helen Mayberg of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, used brain electrodes implanted in the cingulate cortex, which is located in an area deep in the brain and from where connections start for many other brain areas. The electrodes were positioned to treat this area with electrical stimulation in some depressed patients who had not responded to other therapies. In addition to stimulating the area, those electrodes were designed so that they could also photograph the functioning patterns of that part of the cortex, both during the depressive state and when the patients were recovered. so that, with the help of Artificial Intelligence techniques, we have managed to draw a map of how that area functions both during periods of depression and during those of psychological well-being. The research was published in the journal Nature.
The future
These findings could represent a real step change in the treatment of depression. First of all, it will be necessary to start new research to find other systems for detecting the activity of the cingulate area that do not necessarily require the implantation of depth electrodes. In the near future, non-invasive monitoring of the functioning patterns of this area of the brain could in fact offer psychiatrists objective neurobiological data regarding recovery from the depressive episode but also an alarm tool for the arrival of a forthcoming relapse.
September 29, 2023 (modified September 29, 2023 | 08:21)
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