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Study suggests brain scans can predict weeks of teenage depression before their mood changes
- About half of people who end up suffering from depression have their first episode in adolescence
- Depression in youth and adolescents can be difficult to diagnose with subjective tests
- Scientists at the University of Colorado have discovered that the brain's attention systems function differently in teens who are or will become depressed
- They claim that testing could be a faster and more accurate way to catch depression sooner
A new study suggests that clinical depression in adolescents can be diagnosed faster and more accurately with the help of brain tests.
The researchers found that an imbalance of functions in attention-related brain systems could help predict the evolution of depression in adolescents.
They explained that good coordination of networks in the brain helps us to regulate our attention between external goals and self-centered or emotional thinking.
But scientists at the University of Colorado, Boulder, found that abnormalities in coordination between networks were not only evident in adolescents with more severe depression, but predicted an increase in depressive symptoms two weeks later. later.
With the help of brain tests, researchers at the University of Colorado discovered that poor coordination between two brain networks signaled and even predicted depression in adolescents (file).
"Adolescence is a period of remarkable growth and opportunity, as young people form new relationships, learn to navigate in intense emotions and make the transition to independence," he said. the first author of the study, Roselinde Kaiser.
"However, it is also during adolescence that a large and growing number of teens suffer from clinical depression and associated mood problems for the first time.
"Our challenge as clinicians, scientists and parents is how to predict which teens will experience mood problems in the near future.
Dr. Kaiser, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and her colleagues have tested the idea of using MRI to predict the future health of l & # 39; mood.
They measured the activity of front-island networks while teens played a difficult computer game with emotional images.
She added that current forecasting tools primarily used self-assessment, which may not be reliable in adolescents.
"Our results showed that adolescents had unbalanced coordination between brain systems," said Dr. Kaiser.
& # 39; C & # 39; is, [their scans showed] weaker coordination between areas of goal-directed attention and increased coordination between areas involved in self-centered thinking – then reported a greater increase in depression two weeks later, swings greater mood and increased intensity of negative mood in everyday life. & # 39;
She explained that network operation better predicts the future state of mood beyond current symptoms – an essential distinction, as it suggests that front-island system operation could predict who could develop a more serious depression between two teenagers with the same current symptoms.
The results were published in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.
"This very interesting study underlines the important role that front-island circuits, measured by MRI during the treatment of emotional stimuli, can play in regulating our mood, and how a deficiency of the function of this network can underlie the current and ongoing negative moods, "said Dr. Cameron Carter, editor of the newspaper.
Although the study evaluated mood health just two weeks later, he said the results indicate that the operation of the fronto-island network could be helpful in predicting the health of the patient. future mood in adolescents.
The research team confirmed that, if their findings were confirmed by longer clinical studies, the measure could provide a predictor of neurobiological risk to guide interventions to prevent severe depression.
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