Influences of Depression from Childhood

Depression is a serious mental health disorder that can affect one's daily life. It is an important topic in today's society as it affects millions of Americans yearly. Depression is characterized by decreased mood and loss of interest in activities. Many factors play a role in the cause of depression so treating the mental disorder is a very difficult task for researchers. Recently, there have been many research articles and news stories about depression. One such study that was presented in Loyola's Neuroscience 300 class was Lauren Shapiro's study, "A Cytoskeletal-Based Approach to Understanding Antidepressant-Like Mechanism and Depression-Related Behaviors", focuses on behaviors of depression in mice. She highlights that in adolescence the brain is undergoing a pruning process. This helps to modify the brain between childhood and adulthood. Pruning strengthens specific synaptic pathways that are used more often, while eliminating others. It can be thought of as a reorganization of the brain. Depression can have serious implications on the developing brain, disrupting this pruning process. While the brain is undergoing a rewiring of itself, depression could affect which synapses are strengthened. This could possibly strengthen certain synapses which would code for the presence of depression in adulthood. The disorder often presents itself during adolescence. It is seen in rats that if Fasudil is administered at the start of pruning then pruning would be expedited to adult levels. Studies that make progress in better understanding depression, its various causes, and possible solutions are critical for contributing to a better life for the many people in the world living with depression. 

       While this study focuses on the drug treatment of depression, many other studies focus more on the causes of depression. Neuroscience News recently published an article on the correlation of the effect of one having parents with a history of depression. "Brain Differences Detected in Children with Depressed Parents" discusses how the right putamen is seen to be smaller in children who have depressed parents. The right putamen is thought to be critical in reward, motivation, and feelings of pleasure. Therefore, the right putamen would be vital to normal, non depressive-like behaviors. Researchers believe that children whose parents have depression are two to three times more likely to develop depression. The direct causes for this correlation are unknown but may be due to the decreased brain area. In conclusion, there is much research to be done in better understanding the model and treatment of depression. This specific research is so ground-breaking because it has the ability to ultimately affect millions of people’s lives who have been affected by depression. 

Works Cited: 

Neuroscience News. “Brain Differences Detected in Children with Depressed Parents.” Neuroscience News, 5 Dec. 2019, https://neurosciencenews.com/depression-children-brain-15291/.