A presentation on psychological theory and findings on depression, done as part of undergraduate studies at Scripps College.

1. Rona Chong
December 13, 2012
Psych 30
Dr. Brown
Depression

2. Depressed? The Definition
• Major Depressive Episode
• A. Depressed mood or loss of interest/pleasure
• B. Several of these symptoms for 2 weeks or more:
– Change in appetite or significant change in weight
– Consistent insomnia or hypersomnia
– Restlessness or slowness
– Fatigue or loss of energy
– Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt
– Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness
– Recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal ideation
• C. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social,
occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
• D. The symptoms are not due to drugs or another illness
• E. The symptoms are not better accounted for by Bereavement, i.e., after the loss
of a loved one; the symptoms persist for longer than 2 months or are characterized
by marked functional impairment, morbid preoccupation with worthlessness,
suicidal ideation, psychotic symptoms, or psychomotor retardation.

3. Personal Connection

4. Personal Connection

5. What this person said…
diagram from Graffiti – Tony White, psychotherapist

6. Advances in the Neurobiology of
Depression
• Genetic
• Molecular
• Neuroimaging

7. Genetic Findings
• Shift away from focus on genes affecting
monoamines (neurotransmitters)
• New focus on metabolic pathways related to
antidepressants
– glucocorticoid receptor genes
– Monoamine oxidase A gene
– BDNF gene
– glutamate receptor genes
• Genes related to serotonin reuptake

8. Molecular Findings
• Peripheral hormone-type factors affect the
physiology of the brain  depression
• Altered levels of growth/neurotrophic factors
– e.g. decreased levels of BDNF
• Increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines
• Altered regulation of the hypothalamic-
pituitary adrenocortical axis

9. Findings from Neuroimaging
• Specific functional abnormalities in neural
systems
• In reaction to negative stimuli:
– Increased activity in amygdala, ventral striatal, and
medial prefrontal cortex
• In reaction to positive stimuli (also reward
stimuli):
– Reduced ventral striatal activity
• Reduced grey matter in amygdala; pathology in
neural and glial cells in prefrontal cortex

10. Findings from Neuroimaging
• Reduced resting activity in dorsolateral prefrontal
cortex

11. The Big Picture

12. The Bigger Picture

13. References
• Clark, D. A., & Beck, A. T. (2010). Cognitive theory and
therapy of anxiety and depression: Convergence with
neurobiological findings. Trends In Cognitive
Sciences, 14(9), 418-424.
• Disner, S. G., Beevers, C. G., Haigh, E. P., & Beck, A. T.
(2011). Neural mechanisms of the cognitive model of
depression. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 12(8), 467-
477.
• Kupfer, D. J., Frank, E., & Phillips, M. L. (2012). Major
depressive disorder: New clinical, neurobiological, and
treatment perspectives. The Lancet, 379(9820), 1045-
1055.