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October 20, 2016.
A team of researchers from the University of Warwick in Great Britain and Fudan University in China have successfully identified the physical source of depression in the brain.
The source of the depression has been located
British and Chinese scientists have successfully identified the source of depression in the brain. Depression can no longer be seen as just a state of mind, sinceit would be linked to the functioning of the orbitofrontal cortex, a region of the brain that plays a role in the decision-making process.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers followed nearly 900 patients whose brains were examined using a new technique of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Half of the participants were followed for major depressive disorders. Tests showed that depression was well linked to neuronal activity.
Great prospects
” Our work has enabled us to locate the roots of depression, which should open new avenues for better therapeutic treatments in the near future to cure this terrible disease », Said Professor Jianfeng Feng who supervised the work.
This discovery could indeed revolutionize the way depression is treated. Currently, patients have to test a large number of different drugs to find the one that will be truly effective. Tomorrow it will certainly be easier to find out what the patient is suffering from and assign him the right medication. These treatments could specifically target the orbitofrontal cortex and its two sub-regions for more effective relief..
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