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Blue genes: wiring the brain for depression

Nature Neuroscience volume 8, pages 701–703 (2005)Cite this article

How do genes act in the brain to influence susceptibility to mental illness? An imaging study suggests that healthy carriers of a gene variant associated with depression risk have decreased brain volume and neural coupling in affective circuitry involved in depression.

The genetic test result comes back: your baby carries a high-risk gene for depression and anxiety. What does this portend for his future? How will this gene affect his developing brain and temperament, and what can we do to protect him from developing depression? The idea that genes affect risk for mental illness is widely accepted, but exactly how genes influence the brain to increase vulnerability is a mystery that has only recently begun to unfold. A new study1 in this issue uses multiple brain imaging techniques to show that carrying a high-risk variant of the serotonin transporter gene profoundly affects both anatomy and function in a key emotion circuit. This work has broad implications for understanding how genetic vulnerability to depression is manifested in the brain's response to emotional stimuli.

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Figure 1: Differences in processing of emotional stimuli between s allele carriers (blue arrows) and homozygous l allele carriers (yellow arrows).

Debbie Maizels

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  1. Department of Psychology, Emory University, 532 North Kilgo Circle, Atlanta, 30322, Georgia, USA

    Stephan Hamann

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  1. Stephan Hamann
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Hamann, S. Blue genes: wiring the brain for depression. Nat Neurosci 8, 701–703 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0605-701

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0605-701

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