Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Subjects recovered from depression have a substantial risk for recurrence of depression, suggesting persistent abnormalities in brain activity.To test whether women recovered from depression show abnormal brain activity in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a conditioning paradigm with a noxious pain stimulus.Ten unmedicated women who had recovered from major depression and eight healthy control women each received either noxious hot or non-noxious warm stimuli, the onset of which was signalled by a specific coloured light during 3-tesla echo planar imaging-based fMRI.Similar patterns of brain activation were found during painful stimulation for both patients and healthy controls. However, relative to healthy controls, subjects recovered from depression showed a reduced response in the cerebellum during anticipation of the noxious stimulus compared with anticipation of the non-noxious stimulus.Our data suggest that abnormal cerebellar function could be a marker of vulnerability to recurrent depression. This could provide a new target for therapeutic interventions.

Original publication

DOI

10.1192/bjp.181.5.411

Type

Journal article

Journal

The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science

Publication Date

11/2002

Volume

181

Pages

411 - 415

Addresses

University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK.

Keywords

Cerebellum, Humans, Pain, Disease Susceptibility, Recurrence, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Physical Stimulation, Depressive Disorder, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Adult, Female, Hot Temperature