For many people, depression is one of the most disabling illnesses we face in society.
Neurotransmitter Deficiency as the Cause of Depression
Despite available treatments, many individuals do not respond well. Depression is a disorder that has both social and medical consequences. By understanding the neurobiology of depression, experts hope to find better treatments for patients suffering from this condition.
Current treatments for depression are based on the monoamine deficiency hypothesis, which assumes that one of three neurotransmitters in the brain is deficient or underactive. However, there are over 100 neurotransmitters in the brain and billions of connections between nerve cells. Therefore, experts acknowledge that this hypothesis is limited.
Neurotransmitters can be considered chemical messengers in the brain, allowing one brain cell to communicate with another and transmit signals from one brain region to another.
For decades, experts believed that the primary cause of depression was an abnormality in neurotransmitters, specifically serotonin or norepinephrine. However, these neurotransmitters alone do not fully explain the cause or symptoms of depression in people with severe cases. Instead, other chemical messengers like glutamate and GABA, which are involved in communication between nerve cells in higher brain centers, may be responsible for the symptoms of depression.
When exposed to severe and prolonged stress, as seen in depression, some connections between nerve cells are lost. Communication in these neural circuits becomes less efficient and more erratic, and this loss of connections contributes to the biology of depression.
Effective Depression Treatment Helps Restore a Healthy Brain
There are clear differences between a healthy brain and a brain affected by depression. Interestingly, when depression is effectively treated, the brain can return to a state resembling a healthy brain, both at the cellular level and on a global scale.
Understanding the neurobiology of depression and the brain’s role in the disease is crucial.
It helps us comprehend how the disease develops and progresses, allowing us to target treatments based on that understanding. We are in a new era of psychiatry, shifting from the monoamine deficiency model to a broader understanding of the brain as a complex neurochemical organ.
All research is driven by the mission to reduce human suffering. Depression is one of the largest contributors to human distress, and any opportunity to alleviate even a small portion of it is valuable.
Source: Yale University (USA)