Could Depression Be Caused By Inflammation In The Brain?

There are a number of factors that may play a role in the development of depression, including genetic, environmental, emotional, psychological and biological influences. According to one integrative neuroscientist, depression could even be a form of infectious disease. Some research suggests that inflammation can play a large role in the development of depression. This research has tended to focus on inflammatory markers in the blood, and on depression co-occurring with physical ailments that cause an immune reaction. But according to new research, brain inflammation that occurs independently of physical illness may be highly correlated with clinical depression. Depression patients display a 30 percent increase in certain markers of brain inflammation when compared with a control group without depression, according to a study from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) at the University of Toronto. "This finding provides the most compelling evidence to date of brain inflammation during a major depressive episode," the study's senior author Dr. Jeffrey Meyer said in a statement. "This is the first definitive evidence found in the brain." The research team conducted brain scans on 20 study participants who had depression (but were otherwise healthy), and 20 healthy control participants. Using positron emission tomography (PET), they were able to measure the activation of immune cells (micoglia) that play a key role in activating the brain's inflammatory res...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news