Depression in the Brain

Depression in the Brain

The brain is the headquarters of the human body. It controls the basic functions of our bodies, our movements, and our thoughts and emotions. There are many different emotions that a person goes through in life and the brain functions differently for all the emotions. Depression is a mood disorder that causes a feeling of sadness and loss of interest; it affects 1 out of 10 people in America. Scientists believe that the brain gradually looses serotonin. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is involved in sleep, depression, memory, and other processes. In recent times there is research showing that when a person goes through depression, there is change in the brain shape. Parts of the brain begin to shrink also known as atrophy. One of the parts that shrink is the hippocampus. This part is related with making and being able to remember memories and emotion. When depressed it begins to shrink through time depending how long the person is going through the mood disorder. People that depressed are usually prescribed medications that will increase the serotonin which helps their symptoms.

I chose to this article because I found it interesting to know what really goes on inside the brain a person is going through depression. It relates to me because I have witnessed a couple of friends that had the disorder and I found it important to learn more about it. I never understood why the brain has many symptoms towards depression until I learned that the brain was functioning differently than usual. Depression is something that is common in America and the percentage is increasing through years, but if more people were to learn about the brain it possibly can decrease the percentage.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/20/science-depression-asapscience_n_5696226.html