Neuronal networks of depression: Pushing the limits of brain stimulation technology

Abstract

Neuronal networks of depression: Pushing the limits of brain stimulation technology A team of researchers at the University of Freiburg and Delft University of Technology have joined forces to explore a new focused ultrasound technology to tap into the Neuronal Networks of Depression. Major Depressive Disorder (MDD, or “depression”) is not a single disorder but a syndrome: a spectrum of associated behavioral symptoms that are defined (and re-defined with time) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders, American Psychiatric Association. Key symptoms are anhedonia and hopelessness. Clinical depression is diagnosed if the person experiences five or more of the nine symptoms during a continuous 2 week period, with at least one of the symptoms being either reduced motivation or anhedonia (DSM-5 American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Given the nine main symptoms, the pairing with one of the two essential traits, the bi-directionality of many symptoms (increase or decrease), or their sub-symptoms, there are several hundred different individual symptom profiles possible that would qualify for depression diagnosis (Fried & Nesse, 2015).