Long Term Depression Permanently Changes the Brain

Re:Long Term Depression Permanently Changes the Brain by zombieprocesses on Thursday March 01, 2018 @01:29PM (#16494671)

Or changes in the brain cause depression?

Isn't it more likely that depression is a symptom of the brain rather than the brain being a symptom of depression?

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Re:Long Term Depression Permanently Changes the Brain by swearwolves on Thursday March 01, 2018 @01:54PM (#16494946)

This was my first thought too. The article doesn't mention this at all.

It sounds like they just pulled people off the street, tested for the protein, and assumed causality. Wouldn't they have to had tested the same subset of people over time to make their claim?

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Re:Long Term Depression Permanently Changes the Brain by cpncrunch on Thursday March 01, 2018 @03:29PM (#16495935)

There is a lot of research showing that psychological stress (and social defeat in particular) causes microglial over-activation and neuroinflammation, which then results in the symptoms of anxiety and depression.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5660717/

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