Depression Damages Parts of the Brain, Research Concludes

Brain damage is caused by persistent depression rather than being a predisposing factor for it, researchers have finally concluded after decades of unconfirmed hypothesising.

A study published in Molecular Psychiatry today has proved once and for all that recurrent depression shrinks the hippocampus - an area of the brain responsible for forming new memories - leading to a loss of emotional and behavioural function.

Hippocampal shrinkage has long been linked to depression but previous studies haven’t been conclusive. Small sample sizes, varying types of depression and treatment levels, as well as variance in methods for collecting and interpreting results, have together led to inconsistent and often conflicting findings.

Now, with the help of what co-author Ian Hickie from the Brain and Mind Research Institute has called “a new spirit of collaboration” a global, cross-sectional analysis of brain scans of 9,000 people has conclusively linked brain damage to depression.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it Scientology!!!

Depression causes Drain Bamage !!! *cough* Brain Damage !

Sill reading the Orginal Study on this, wonder how this will shape the future of psychiatry and insurance ... silly thought i know .

you can read more Here

Thoughts ? ( preferably happy ones )

♠Kap♠

a reply to: Kapusta

Happy thoughts?

I was depressed for a long time, and even when I wanted to feel new emotions it was hard. It took a long time of finding almost everything to be grateful for ever.. It took a long time before I started feeling good again.

Now.. My memory is improving.

I wonder if being happy has the opposite effect?

I know the brain is not static. Maybe there is hope for all of us to improve our brain function?

Going to go read now.

Happy thoughts.

Very end of the article.

It’s important to note however, that the effects of depression on the brain are reversible with the right treatment for the individual.

“The hippocampus is one of the most important regenerative areas of the brain,” said Professor Hickie.

Here is a way to grow hippocampus and improve cognitive function.
www.medscape.com...

very cool.. It's EPO, so I don't know how available that is.

It appears that EPO was directly able to enhance cognitive function, even in our patient population who were in remission and were asymptomatic," Dr. Miskowiak said.

Growing A Bigger Brain Is A Walk In The Park
www.npr.org...

A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that adults who walked for 40 minutes three times a week for a year had brain growth in the hippocampus — an area of the brain associated with spatial memory. Study author Arthur Kramer and psychologist Margaret Gatz discuss their research.

Psychiatry as apposed to psychology, is and has always been an barbaric practice void of compassion or even a relatable emotional range to that of the common man, their subjects. Yet we use their proclamations as a basis to judge our own sanity? It wasn't that long ago this same practice concluded that the hammering of a rod through the nasal cavity or electromagnetic shock would change ones troubled personality for the better.

It is no strange or rare fact that some of the most intelligent people alive and throughout history, are and have been some of the most depressed.

Yea, there's too many damned ways to regrow the hypocampus. I've been through bouts of brain damage ranging from external trauma's, to blunt forces to the skull. I've had to retrain my brain for increased vocab, intonation, and directed savant skills from mathematics and sciences in youth into artistic and talents of discovery in adulthood.

Heck, the wet-brain of alcoholism can be undone with high dose thiamine, and the will to live.

Another way of interpreting this is that you clear out the brush in a firely blaze to rebirth a forest fresh.

originally posted by: rexsblues
It is no strange or rare fact that some of the most intelligent people alive and throughout history, are and have been some of the most depressed.

This is complete bull#.

What?

I consider myself smart. In any case my memory when I was depressed and long after.. Was horrible. It still is. My ability to have new emotions is weaker.. I'm getting better.. You may notice in my speech flow that I can't always get to the end of a sentence. I learn fast, but forget fast too..

Actually all the smart depressed people I know have memory issues. My brother can't even remember what he's doing as he does it.

This is good news for me to hear.
It's saying that you can improve brain function. I've noticed it in myself. This looks like a good study, so what makes you think the results are inaccurate?

a reply to: Reverbs

Well, to your point and perspective it's a comforting realization that the mind can truly heal itself from multiple traumas. Which proves you yourself are progressing that along. I just get frustrated with the long standing ill history of psychiatry, and their emotionless, neutral droning that it's hard to catch the brighter side of it. Thanks for pointing it out.

originally posted by: pl3bscheese

Heck, the wet-brain of alcoholism can be undone with high dose thiamine, and the ...

What would you consider a high dose of thiamine.? I currently on between 300 and 500mg a day and dont notice it at all. My doc wanted me to take it at 100mg a day but i know there is no problem with more as the body flushes excess out unlike other vitamin b.

For the reason you mention too.

a reply to: sn0rch

actually, all b-vits (and c) are water soluble. that does should suffice, but you need to take the whole complex as well cause too much b-1 can lower the others too much. take b-50 for such high dose of thiamine.

get a good curry spice mix, with main ingredient turmeric, and cloves, cinnamon, piperine in it as well. eat with at least one meal daily, else take a gram or two below tongue (tough it out)

exercise, it's a U shaped curve in response middle optimal benefit, left none, right negative. find your current fitness level, expand, slowly, steadily.

eat of the rainbow. not kidding. you can do it on the cheap.

tea daily. if coffee, switch it out. loose leaf better, but more monies.

nootropics, i take noopept, you can try piracetam. if budget, noopept. half year tiny monies.

gaming, light... switch out. learning, activity, rest, repeat.

focus, arnold knew. whatever you focus on expands. you create neural nets through work, and increase neural efficiency of these nets with focus. that means honing in your senses, visualize the goal, bring it into now, one leap at a time. work the muscle, look at it, visualize it's expansion. so forth.

maybe try to be a closet case. not kidding, but not like that. sensory deprivation will do wonders. get blankets over creaks. meditate.

gl!

&
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Just my belief, I consider the inertia effects of trains of thought to be currents (electrical) in the brain. Like when you get a song stuck in your head, that's electrical current inertia. Once the direction of current flow gets going it take a lot to stop, lessen or reverse it. Depression and other manic functions are an OVER-CURRENT implosion. I do agree the over-current condition can damage the "wires" (neurons) or burn out the "breakers".

a reply to: pl3bscheese

Actually so can Urea. People in Europe know this, Men in WW1 and 2 knew it as well but todays society is a pop another pill kinda society so old school has been all but dismissed and or forgotten.

Carry on

originally posted by: tkwasny
Just my belief, I consider the inertia effects of trains of thought to be currents (electrical) in the brain. Like when you get a song stuck in your head, that's electrical current inertia. Once the direction of current flow gets going it take a lot to stop, lessen or reverse it. Depression and other manic functions are an OVER-CURRENT implosion. I do agree the over-current condition can damage the "wires" (neurons) or burn out the "breakers".

Yes.. You know I am actually thankful the Army brainwashed me. ReSet..
And then I used that more blank slate to do another ReSet.

I'm good at flowing more now. Changing.
Well one thing..
I have an ATS addiction. That has some Mad Inertia attached. More so than my past alcohol addiction.
I find it to be quite positive writing out thoughts, so I don't mind it. It's helping me relearn how to spell. I used to have atrocious spelling.

Some good tips in this thread.
Think I'll start on some.

Depression is a symptom. Whatever is causing the depression may be causing the brain damage also. Excess copper in the diet can lead to depression. The ratio of tyramines to copper in the body can lead to depression. Too much chocolate without enough aged food can lead to depression. Lowering copper levels is necessary to stem depression in many cases. Coincidently copper buildup in the barrior of the brain can possibly cause alzheimer disease. Alzheimer disease actually breaks down the brain and effects memories.

So this article just helps to verify the link between excess copper and alzheimers in my mind. But copper does not actually cause alzheimer disease, it contributes to it's progression sometimes.

a reply to: rickymouse

Zinc is antagonistic to copper, the zn:cu ratio often used in hair analysis to test for imbalances.

Another interesting thing is coppers ability to act as antifungal/antimicrobial; which I find curious and wonder if not a microbe at the root of these tangles.

a reply to: rickymouse

The study doesn't mention neither copper nor Alzheimer's disease. So, I'm curious as to how this article helped verify the link between excess copper and alzheimer's. Maybe you're referring to something different? I'm referring to the original study which was linked in the original post.

My thoughts on the study: It has been known for quite a while that there was some association between depression and a smaller hippocampus. Despite what the original post has highlighted in blue, this study does NOT "proved once and for all that recurrent depression shrinks the hippocampus." What this study does show strong evidence for, is that there is a rather strong association between a smaller hippocampus and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), specifically in people who have an early age of onset of MDD symptoms, and people who have recurrent bouts of MDD.

There is not enough evidence to say with conviction whether the atrophied brain is a predisposing factor or a result of MDD. From what I have learned and currently understand, it's most likely the case that it involves a certain amount of both. That is, people who are predisposed to MDD likely have some structural brain abnormalities (smaller size) due to genetics, AND that once the symptoms of MDD begin to manifest with recurrence, these structural abnormalities become worse over time. Interesting study nonetheless, and I appreciate it being posted

a reply to: kayej1188


Yeah, I have read a lot of articles over the years on this subject, so I am injecting info from multiple articles into my response.

This is a very good thread. You are right about it only being a correlation though. I guess the article kind of says that. Like which comes first, the chicken or the egg.

originally posted by: pl3bscheese
a reply to: rickymouse

Zinc is antagonistic to copper, the zn:cu ratio often used in hair analysis to test for imbalances.

Another interesting thing is coppers ability to act as antifungal/antimicrobial; which I find curious and wonder if not a microbe at the root of these tangles.

To lower copper, you could increase zinc to decrease absorption of the coppor, or you could increase molybdenum foods along with adding more sulfur foods to the diet. The molybdopterins being adequate is important when increasing sulfur in the diet. Sulfur can help chelate metals out of the body, but too much too fast can cause higher than desired levels of these metals in the blood. It is important also to filter and excrete the metals bound to the sulfur.

Making sure to consume adequate zinc is important. It is the heart of many things in the body from hormones to insulin to proper immune system function. But too much zinc can also cause problems.

a reply to: rickymouse

yea, epsom salt foot baths for me in the sink while watching docu or listening tunes once or twice a week.

zinc, maybe 50mg 2-3 days in a row if I let the stress pile on too much, too long. maybe once a season.

i'd rather just noms lots of meat and keep the nuts down to a minimum. molybd from whole wheat seems enough, lots of sammiches almond/peanut wildberryjams and cinnamon

I suffer from major depressive disorder and have my entire life. It is not something that comes and goes, but is always there, hovering. True depression, in my opinion, is not simply fixed by eliminating copper, if I read that correctly. If it was I would not need to be on three medications just to make me able to function as a "normal" person. I wish mine had been caused by an outside force, and that it would go away and I'd return to a somewhat normal life. Depression flat out sucks.

originally posted by: pl3bscheese
a reply to: rickymouse

yea, epsom salt foot baths for me in the sink while watching docu or listening tunes once or twice a week.

zinc, maybe 50mg 2-3 days in a row if I let the stress pile on too much, too long. maybe once a season.

i'd rather just noms lots of meat and keep the nuts down to a minimum. molybd from whole wheat seems enough, lots of sammiches almond/peanut wildberryjams and cinnamon

In this particular post, how come you said to keep the nuts down to a minimum. It gets me thinking of the multiple chemistries of nuts, but I am not sure what direction you are going in with that. Is it because Nuts have magnesium which is also competitive with zinc?