Stanford Scientists Discover Six Types of Depression

Depression goes beyond simple sadness or a temporary feeling of being “down.” According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is the leading cause of disability worldwide. It is a common and complex disease that affects millions of people worldwide (about 280 million people) and can significantly affect a person’s quality of life by changing their thoughts, feelings, behavior and physical health. In addition to apathy, sadness, lack of interest or hopelessness, it can also manifest itself through physical symptoms such as changes in appetite, sleep disturbances, fatigue and difficulty concentrating. There is no cure for depression.

In fact, signs of depressionwhich may vary from patient to patient may include: persistent feelings of sadness, emptiness or hopelessness, loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were previously enjoyable, changes in appetite and weight (whether loss or gain), changes (insomnia or sleeping too much ), fatigue or lack of energy, difficulty concentrating, making decisions or remembering things, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt, physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach aches or other unexplained aches and pains, or even dark thoughts about death or suicide.

But not all depression is the same and now a team of scientists from Stanford University has presented a study in which they identified up to six different types of pressure by combining brain imaging with machine learning. The results reveal six subtypes of depression that could revolutionize depression treatment, and each needs to be treated differently.

There is no one type of depression

This is consistent with the fact that for some people suffering from depression, finding the right treatment or medication can be a tedious, almost trial-and-error process that can even make the symptoms of the disease worse. Even despite long-term treatment, many people Up to two thirds of those who suffer from it are unable to completely relieve their symptoms.. Something doesn’t fit.

“The goal of our work is to figure out how we can do it right the first time,” explained Deanne Williams of Stanford University School of Medicine. “It’s very frustrating to be in the depression space and not have a better alternative to this one-size-fits-all approach.”

To identify these six variants of depression, the researchers used brain imaging combined with machine learning. They found six “biotypes”. Specifically, they used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan the brains of 801 participants diagnosed with depression or anxiety and with an average age of 30 years. All these brain scans were carried out both at rest and while performing tasks aimed at assessing the cognitive and emotional functions of the experiment volunteers. Then they used artificial intelligence through machine learningto identify different patterns of brain activity and connectivity corresponding to different biotypes of depression.

“To our knowledge, this is the first time we have been able to show that depression can be explained by various changes in brain function,” Williams said. “Essentially, this is a demonstration of a personalized medicine approach to mental health based on objective measurements of brain function. Our goal is to figure out how we can do it right the first time. area of ​​depression and the lack of a better alternative to this one-size-fits-all approach.”

What are the 6 types of depression?

Researchers have discovered six biotypes of depression: characterized by hyperactivity in cognitive areasassociated with greater anxiety, negative bias, threat, dysregulation, and anhedonia (lack of interest in life experiences) than other biotypes.

Another biotype was marked by higher levels of brain connectivity in three areas associated with depression and problem solving. Authors publishing their results in a journal natural medicine, They found that their symptoms were best relieved by behavioral talk therapy, which teaches skills to better cope with everyday problems.

Another type of depression was clearly distinguished by introducing lower levels of activity in the brain circuit that controls attentionwhich was associated with lower odds of improvement with therapy.

In the same way, another biotype was associated with lower activity in cognitive areas of the brain and less connectivity in emotional areasThis means that the volunteers had difficulty responding to cognitive information and regulating negative emotions. They also found another one characterized by high emotional reactivityThey are much more influenced by emotional stimuli, such as their own emotions or people’s facial expressions, than others.

The latter biotype of depression was quite unexpected because no different from people without depression Regarding brain scan results that may indicate a type of depression not yet classified.

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