Columbia Study Links Depression to Stalled Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Nearly 500,000 Brain Cells
Updated
Updated · ScienceDaily · Aug 25
Columbia Study Links Depression to Stalled Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Nearly 500,000 Brain Cells
3 articles · Updated · ScienceDaily · Aug 25
Summary
Adults with major depressive disorder showed the first direct evidence of stalled new-neuron production in the hippocampus, a finding researchers say could weaken the brain’s ability to separate new experiences from painful memories.
Nearly 500,000 postmortem brain cells from depressed and control donors revealed broad molecular disruption across the hippocampal circuit, including genes tied to synapse formation, cell communication, energy supply, inflammation and cellular stress.
The study points to impaired pattern separation as a possible mechanism: when hippocampal neurogenesis falters, current events may blend with older negative memories, reinforcing depressive thinking.
Several altered genes had already been linked to major depression, while others showed epigenetic changes shaped by life experience, supporting the idea that depression may involve multiple biological forms rather than a single disease.
Published Aug. 21 in Nature Medicine, the work could help reclassify depression by molecular subtype and guide treatments aimed at restoring neurogenesis in some patients.