New links to brain growth

PARTS of the brain grow significantly in people battling both depression and anxiety, but shrink in people suffering only from depression.

A new study by the Australian National University (ANU) has found the amygdala, which is responsible for emotion, grows in volume in people with the double diagnosis.

But in those suffering from depression only, another area of the brain, the hippocampus, shrank.

The findings are important as the hippocampus is responsible for learning and memory.

Smaller hippocampi have also been connected to the development of Alzheimer’s disease later in life.

Daniela Espinoza Oyarce, a PhD candidate at ANU, led the study and said the results showed that the true effects of depression on the brain had been underestimated.

“People who have depression quite often experience anxiety; and one in six Australians currently experience depression, anxiety or both,” Ms Espinoza Oyarce said.

“What we noticed was anxiety was lowering the effects of depression on the brain by an average of 3 per cent – hiding the true shrinking effects of depression on the brain.”

Ms Espinoza Oyarce said this was particularly important as shrinkage could lead to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

The study, published in The Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, involved more than 10,000 people and compared changes in the brain in people with depression, depression and anxiety and no mental health issues.

Ms Espinoza Oyarce said the next step was to look at the effects of anxiety alone.