Adolescent Depression and the Amygdala Introduction and Method Adolescence is one of the most concerning times when it comes to depression. One study completed by Tony T. Yang and colleagues (2010) wanted to gain more knowledge on this subject. The goal of the Yang et al study was to compare the Amygdala in depressed adolescents to their healthy counterparts in order to grasp a better understanding of adolescent depression. The study focused on observing to see if there was any correlation between neural activity in the bilateral amygdala and adolescent depression. The hypothesis of this study stated that the facial tasks involved would produce activity in the amygdala and that amygdala activation would be greater in those participants with depression. (Yang et al., 2010) The participants of this study consisted of twenty-four adolescents between the ages of roughly fourteen and seventeen years old, twelve of which were classified as depressed and the other twelve participated as the healthy controls. In each of the two groups, five participants were female while seven were male. Let it be noted that of the twelve depressed adolescents, none had either a comorbid disorder nor were any on anti-depressant medication. All of the participants took multiple tests to determine eligibility, as there were many items listed under exclusion criteria. Such items included being left handed, IQ score lower than eighty, history of neurologic disorder and color blindness, amongst a few others. The healthy controls were tested for any presence of an axis one disorders, while the depressed participants were tested against the exclusion criteria. The procedure of this study involved using a functional MRI. While under the fMRI scan, each parti... ... middle of paper ... ...Monk, C. (2011). Lecture 12-Adolescent biological development 2011 student slides [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://ctools.umich.edu/portal/site/cebe77f0-5b4a-4dd6-a759-04bf01bbb166 Monk, C. (2011). Lecture 15-Physical and Cognitive Development in Young Adulthood 2011 student slides [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://ctools.umich.edu/portal/site/cebe77f0-5b4a-4dd6-a759-04bf01bbb166 Yang, T. T., Simmons, A. N., Matthews, S. C., Tapert, S. F., Frank, G., Max, J. E., … Paulus, M. P. (2010). Adolescents with major depression demonstrate increased amygdala activation. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 49, 42-51. Yurgelon-Todd, D.A., Killgore, W.D.S.,. (2006). Fear related activity in the prefrontal cortex increases with age during adolescence: A preliminary fMRI study. Science Direct,406,194-199.
Thompson, P. M., Vidal, C., Giedd, J. N., Gochman, P., Blumenthal, J., Nicolson, R., Toga, A. W., &
Lewinsohn, P.M., Hops, H., Roberts, R.E., Seeley, J.R. & Andrews, J.A. (1993). Adolescent psychopathology: I. Prevalence and incident of depression and other dsm-iii-r disorders in high school students. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102(1), 133-144.
Previously, neuro-imaging studies have only observed the amygdala’s response to emotional face stimuli of the same cultural environment. This study went further and tested the amygdala’s response to participants of different cultures. In the study there were 22 adult participants: 12 native Japanese living in Japan (6 men and 6 women) and 10 Caucasians living in the United States (5 men and 5 women). The stimuli used to arouse the amygdala’s reactivity were 80 digitized grayscale pictures of faces that had different expressions. The facial expressions were of the four: neutral, happy, angry, and fearful. The photos were of 20 Japanese and 20 Caucasian men and women taken from the two groups. Participants were tested based on their own self-identified culture. The experimenters who conducted the studies used the participant’s native language. The independent variable in the study was the faces from the different cultures and the dependent variable was the amygdala’...
As reported by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), depression occurs in over 26% of adolescents and can lead to morbidity, mortality, and social problems that can last into adulthood (SCREENING FOR DEPRESSION IN ADOLESCENTS -- RISKS AND BENEFITS, 2015). Signs of adolescent depression can sometimes be different than adults, and possibly harder to identify. It is most often identified as an increase in negative behaviors or somatic complaints such as an upset stomach (SCREENING FOR DEPRESSION IN ADOLESCENTS -- RISKS AND BENEFITS, 2015). Behavioral changes that are associated with adolescent depression include an increase in irritability, tantrums, anger outbursts, decrease in school performance, and social isolation (SCREENING
Although historically depression has been considered a character condition, evidence has accumulated suggesting the role of a biological substrate, namely serotonin, in subgroups of depressed patients. This accumulated evidence supports the indoleamine hypothesis of depression, which suggests that major depression results from a deficiency of available serotonin or inefficient serotonin. (16). We see that depletions of serotonin from certain regions of the brain such as the hypothalamus, amygdala, and cortical areas involved in cognition and other high processes, can have a great impact in contributing to depression.
As Paul Thompson states in his article Startling Finds on Teenage Brains from the Sacramento Bee, published on May 25, 2001, “.These frontal lobes,which inhibit our violent passions, rash action and regulate our emotions, are vastly immature throughout the teenage years.” He also says that “The loss[of brain tissue] was like a wildfire, and you see it in every teenager.”. This loss of brain tissue plays a role in the erratic behavior of teens, who cannot properly assess their emotions and thoughts. During this period of brain tissue loss, teens are unpredictable, adults do not know what their teen’s next move will be, teens themselves do not even know what their next move will be. As we grow our brains develop, therefore teen brains are not fully developed, so they cannot be held to the same standards as adults.
The sample consisted of adolescents between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, who met the criteria for DSM-III-R (American Psychiatric Association, 1987), major depression and with the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck et. al., 1988) score greater than or equal to 13 (p. 907). All participants were nonpsychotic, non-bipolar, without obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorder, substance abuse, or ongoing physical and/or sexual abuse. There were 122 adolescents who were eligible for the study but only 107 (87.7%) participants agreed to randomization. One third (32.7%) of participants were chosen through
Depression: Cause or Effect? Depression supplies a distinct depiction of the brain, equals behavior theory. The physiological characteristics that taint the diseased brain directly impact the thoughts and behaviors of the millions of sufferers. The genesis of this dehabilitating problem is both mysterious and complicated, and I am not offering any sort of revelation in stating that it is a multi-factorial manifestation involving both biological and environmental components.
In the nonfiction article “The Teen Brain: Still under construction” by NIMH, the author believes the teen brain is still developing emotionally, intellectually, and hormonally.
The Development of the human brains can affect our behavior in many ways. The teenage brain or adolescent brains does not process the
Bee, H. and Boyd, D. (2001). Physical and cognitive development in adolescence. Lifespan Development. 3ed., 292-293.
It has been found that juvenile brains are not yet fully developed. The parts of the brain specifically still changing during the teen years include the brain circuitry involved in emotional responses and impulsive responses. Teen emotional reactions are intense and urgent (National Institute
During adolescence emotional reactivity is heightened, and the social environment is changing as adolescents spend more time with their peers than adults (Casey, 2008). To an adolescent, the value of positive information, as well as negative information may be exaggerated which leads to greater emotional reactivity and sensitivity during this growth period (Casey, 2008). This can heighten the incidence of addiction and the onset of psychological disorders (Casey, 2008). There are various theories that attempt to explain why adolescents engage in risky behaviour. One of these theories by Yurgelun-Todd stems from human adolescent brain development, and proposes that cognitive development during the adolescent period is associated with increasingly superior efficiency of cognitive control and affective modulation (Casey, 2008). This theory also suggest...
n.d. - n.d. - n.d. The adolescent brain: Beyond raging hormones. Retrieved November 30, 2013, from http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog-extra/the-adolescent-brain-beyond-raging-hormones.
Empfield, M., Bakalar, N. (2001). Understanding Teenage Depression: A Guide to Diagnosis, Treatment and Management, Holt Paperbacks, New York.