What Happens To Brain In Depression

Depression is major mental disorder which is characterized by: continuous low mood, impaired cognitive functions, etc. 
 

WHO states that, above 300 million people in the world, suffer from depression. 

Depression can cause structural changes in brain which includes loss of gray matter in some areas which can affect memory, thinking and emotion control. 
 

What really happens inside the brain of a depressed person? 
 

• Hippocampus, which is important for memory and learning, is the most affected part of brain. It gets shrinked on the basis of severity of depression. 
   
• The prefrontal cortex, important for tough thinking and planning, is also affected that leads to problems with attention, impulse control and emotions. 
   
• It can cause brain inflammation due to immune response, which leads to shrinkage, abnormal functioning of neurotransmitters leading to disturbed mood and cognitive functions. 
   
• It can cause imbalance in the neurotransmitters such as: serotonin, dopamine, etc that can lead to decrease in brain volume, which can cause the changes in mood and and disturb thinking process. 
   

Source

1. Trifu, S. C., Trifu, A. C., Aluaş, E., Tătaru, M. A., & Costea, R. V. (2020). Brain changes in depression. Romanian journal of morphology and embryology = Revue roumaine de morphologie et embryologie, 61(2), 361–370. https://doi.org/10.47162/RJME.61.2.06 
 

2. Zhang, F. F., Peng, W., Sweeney, J. A., Jia, Z. Y., & Gong, Q. Y. (2018). Brain structure alterations in depression: Psychoradiological evidence. CNS neuroscience & therapeutics, 24(11), 994–1003. https://doi.org/10.1111/cns.12835