Brain scans performed on 131 people of different ages revealed that there was a 28 percent thinning of the right cortex in those with depression running in their families. The cerebral cortex is the region of the brain centrally involved in reasoning, planning and mood. On the other hand, no thinning was seen in those with no history of the disorder.

 

“Our findings suggest rather strongly that if you have thinning in the right hemisphere of the brain, you may be predisposed to depression and may also have some cognitive and inattention issues. The more thinning you have, the greater the cognitive problems,” study first author Dr. Bradley Peterson, director of child and adolescent psychiatry and director of MRI research at Columbia and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, said.

 

The participants were chosen from the “Children at High and Low Risk of Depression” study which was started 27 years ago at Yale to try and understand families at risk for depression.

 

However, the study suggests that more evidence is necessary since the persons involved in the study did not necessarily suffer themselves from depression.

 

The findings are very important, as they could help researchers discover new ways of treating or preventing depression in people with the disease running in their families.

 

The findings were reported in this week's online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.