{"id":54785,"date":"2025-04-24T07:55:50","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T07:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/study-finds-attention-related-brain-network-larger-in-people-with-depression\/"},"modified":"2025-04-24T07:55:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T07:55:50","slug":"study-finds-attention-related-brain-network-larger-in-people-with-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/fr\/study-finds-attention-related-brain-network-larger-in-people-with-depression\/","title":{"rendered":"Study Finds Attention-Related Brain Network Larger in People with Depression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A new study published in <strong>Nature<\/strong> has revealed that individuals diagnosed with depression have a <strong>salience network nearly twice the size<\/strong> of that found in those without the condition. This finding is especially significant because the network&#8217;s enlarged size remains stable over time, regardless of whether the person is currently experiencing severe symptoms. This suggests it may be a <strong>persistent trait rather than a temporary state<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to lead author <strong>Charles Lynch<\/strong>, a neuroscientist at <strong>Weill Cornell Medical College<\/strong>, the research team initially set out to identify <strong>brain activity changes that correlate with mood fluctuations<\/strong> in depression. However, they were surprised to find a stable and structural difference in brain network size instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The salience network plays a central role in <strong>directing attention to relevant stimuli<\/strong>, and it also influences the function of other brain systems involved in <strong>self-focused thought<\/strong> and <strong>working memory during goal-directed behavior<\/strong>. The study showed that, while the general shape of the network is similar across both depressed and non-depressed individuals, <strong>its boundaries extend much farther in those with depression<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moreover, specific patterns within this network appear to relate to symptom severity. The researchers found that when individuals reported <strong>a drop in feelings of pleasure or joy<\/strong>, there was a <strong>noticeable weakening in the connectivity between the nucleus accumbens (linked to reward processing) and the anterior cingulate cortex (involved in decision-making)<\/strong>. This change in connectivity was consistent during periods of worsening mood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To understand whether this network enlargement might <strong>precede the onset of depression<\/strong>, the team analyzed brain scans of children aged 10 to 12 who were not yet showing symptoms but later developed depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The children who eventually became depressed already had <strong>significantly larger salience networks<\/strong> compared to those who remained symptom-free. This finding implies that the enlarged network <strong>may act as an early marker<\/strong>, potentially influenced by <strong>genetic factors or early life stress<\/strong>.<br>The implications of this research are far-reaching. A deeper understanding of the brain\u2019s functional architecture in depression could enhance the precision of <strong>brain stimulation therapies<\/strong>, offering <strong>more targeted and effective treatment options<\/strong> than traditional medication, which often yields inconsistent results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new study published in Nature has revealed that individuals diagnosed with depression have a salience network nearly twice the size of that found in those without the condition. This finding is especially significant because the network&#8217;s enlarged size remains stable over time, regardless of whether the person is currently experiencing severe symptoms. This suggests [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[223],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-de-presse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}