A new research has shown that early days stress including mistreatment or emotional negligence can lead to structural brain changes

By making use of MRI, scientists have shown that childhood stress, especially when blended with hereditary factors, can cause structural brain changes, rendering these people more susceptible to growing depressive disorder.

The research led by scientists at Trinity College Dublin has just been released in the international scientific journal, Neuropsychopharmacology.

While commenting on the implication of the discoveries, Trinity''s Professor Thomas Frodl at the School of Medicine and Trinity Institute for Neuroscience said, "This improved neurobiological understanding shows how stress and genetic variants interact and affect brain structure and function. In turn it demonstrates how it could affect a person''s propensity for depression. These structural alterations of the brain are associated with a higher vulnerability to depression and a more chronic course of the depression might be associated with further structural changes".

"Therefore, early intervention in the case of major depression is necessary to increase the chance of a good disease outcome. Fortunately, depression can be treated very well by psychotherapy and antidepressant medication. Moreover, prevention strategies for childhood neglect and misuse are highly important to increase public health and to avoid in later life for these individuals, the burden of major depression."

The research was carried out on 24 patients (aged 18-65 years) being treated as inpatients for major depressive disorder.

All the study participants were examined with high-resolution structural MRI and childhood stress appraisals.

Special analysis programmes were utilized to assess brain areas. These participants were equated with 27 strong control subjects from the local community who were matched for age and sex.

Further research is required in a larger number of patients and controls to recognize the fundamental causes of depressive disorder and stress-gene interaction on brains structure plus function. (With Input from Agencies)