Your thinking ability becomes less sharp when you are depressed, revealed researchers from the University of Michigan's medical school and depression center. They categorized this condition as a mood disorder.
Researchers analyzed 612 women for the study. Over two-thirds of the participants had experienced either major depression or bipolar disorder. The test asked the study subjects to react rapidly when certain letters flashed briefly on a screen amid a random sequence of other letters. It was seen that women with depression or bipolar disorder did equally badly on the test, which required sustained concentration. Compared to the group of women with no mental health conditions, the groups with either diagnosis lagged noticeably on this standard test of cognitive control.
Depression
Depression is one of the most common mental disorders affecting approximately 340 million people in the world. No one is immune from depression - it occurs in people of all social classes, all countries and all cultural settings.
Brain scans of the women showed that the women with depression or bipolar disorder had different levels of activity than healthy women in a particular area of the brain called the right posterior parietal cortex. In women with depression, the activity in this area was higher than in healthy individuals, while in those with bipolar disorder it was lower. The area where the differences were seen helps control executive function, activities such as working memory, problem solving and reasoning.
The study is published in the BRAIN.
Source: Medindia
Clinical Depression
Clinical Depression is a serious medical condition that affects majority of people at some point in their lives. Symptoms of clinical depression include sleep disorder, loss of appetite.
Adolescent Depression
Adolescent depression is an ailment that occurs during the teenage characterized by persistent melancholy, disappointment and loss of self-esteem.
Depression Symptom Evaluation
Depression occurs due to alterations in the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain.
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