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Los Angeles
Scientists have identified a common pattern of brain activity behind bad mood, an advance that could help develop new treatments for depression and anxiety.
Most research on mood disorders in the human brain is based on studies in which participants sit in an fMRI scanner and look at heartbreaking images or listen to sad stories.
These studies have helped scientists identify brain areas associated with emotions in healthy and depressed individuals, but they do not reveal much about the natural fluctuations in mood that people experience during a lifetime. day nor do they give an idea of the actual mechanisms of the underlying brain activity of the mood.
Researchers at the University of California in San Francisco, USA, have identified a common pattern of brain activity that may explain these moody feelings, especially in people who tend to be anxious.
For the study published in the journal Cell, researchers consistently recorded brain activity for a week or more in human volunteers and linked their daily mood swings to specific patterns of brain activity.
The researchers recruited 21 patients with epilepsy who had 40 to 70 electrodes implanted on the surface of the brain and in deeper structures of the brain as part of the standard preparation for surgery to remove brain tissue responsible for seizures.
They recorded a wide range of brain activities in these patients over a period of seven to ten days, focusing particularly on some deep brain structures that were previously involved in mood regulation.
Meanwhile, patients regularly noted their mood throughout the day with tablet-based software.
The researchers then used computer algorithms to match patterns of brain activity with mood changes reported by patients.
"We were quite surprised to identify a single signal that almost completely accounted for the episodes of depressed mood in so many people," said Vikaas Sohal of UC San Francisco.
"Finding a powerful and informative biomarker was more than we expected at this stage of the project," said Sohal. PTI
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