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The biology of depression is the attempt to identify a biochemical origin of depression, as opposed to theories that emphasize psychological or situational causes. Scientific studies have found that different brain areas show altered activity in humans with major depressive disorder (MDD) . [ 1 ]
Endogenous depression is an atypical subclass of major depressive disorder (clinical depression). It could be caused by genetic and biological factors. [ 1 ] Endogenous depression occurs due to the presence of an internal (cognitive, biological) stressor instead of an external (social, environmental) stressor. [ 2 ]
This is seen in that immune activity does not appear to be enough on its own to cause depression. [39] Evidence for this comes primarily from treatments that involve the pro-inflammatory IFN-α, which is commonly used in treating viral infections but only results in major depression in about one third of patients.
In the simplest example of the method, an equal volume of beads are added to a cell or tissue suspension in a test tube and the sample is vigorously mixed on a common laboratory vortex mixer. While processing times are slow, taking 3–10 times longer than that in specialty shaking machines , it works well for easily disrupted cells and is ...
One reason depression is thought to be a pathology is that it causes so much psychic pain and distress. However, physical pain is also very distressful, yet it has an evolved function: to inform the organism that it is being damaged, to motivate it to withdraw from the source of damage, and to learn to avoid such damage-causing circumstances in the future.
The serotonin transporter (SERT or 5-HTT) also known as the sodium-dependent serotonin transporter and solute carrier family 6 member 4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SLC6A4 gene. [5] SERT is a type of monoamine transporter protein that transports the neurotransmitter serotonin from the synaptic cleft back to the presynaptic ...
Risk factors for mental illness include psychological trauma, adverse childhood experiences, genetic predisposition, and personality traits. [7] [8] Correlations between mental disorders and substance use are also found to have a two way relationship, in that substance use can lead to the development of mental disorders and having mental disorders can lead to substance use/abuse.
In physiology and medicine, depression [1] refers to a lowering, in particular a reduction in a specific biological variable or the functions of an organ. It is the opposite of elevation. For example, it is possible to refer to "depressed thyroid function" or to a depression of blood flow in a particular area. Further examples: