As mental health continues to become less stigmatized in discussions and research, studies analyzing major mental disorders, such as depression, are continuing to look into the activity and connectivity alterations of the brain.

A study published in October issue of Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging has identified regions of the brain that may be the source of symptoms in depression, according to a report by The Times of India.  

Researchers from the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, measured the influence of one brain region on another—or as they refer to the method as "effective connectivity", causing reduced happiness, pleasure and motivation that is apparent in individuals diagnosed with depression.  

Researchers compared 336 participants with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) to 350 control participants, which according to the study is the first ever "brain-wide" resting-state effective-connectivity neuroimaging analysis of depression. 

"The new method allows the effect of one brain region on another to be measured in depression, in order to discover more about which brain systems make causal contributions to depression," said Edmund Rolls, PhD, lead author of the study and professor of computer science at the University of Warwick. 

See the entire news article and original study for information and findings.