HMB300H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Deep Brain Stimulation, Learned Helplessness, Reserpine

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7 Oct 2018
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Lecture 4
Depression & Hormonal Influences
Increases in glucocorticoid levels ae found in depressed people
Animal models inject elevated levels of glucocorticoids (corticosteroids) which affects mobility and
motivation
Hormonal changes can also mimic depressive symptoms but hormonal changes do not respond well
to antidepressants
o Birth and post-partum depression
o Different times of period
o Menarche and menopause
Suggests hormonal changes in some people may cause depression
Neuroscience Correlates
Anhedonia: inability enjoy anything
o Correlated with VTA and NAcc
o Loses of sexual desire, warm feelings, happiness, blame or self-guilt
Psychomotor effects: inability to do anything
o Vegetative symptoms such as disruption of sleep cycles, appetite change, stress responses,
etc.
Depression links to the endocrine system
Hashimotos disease: chronic lymphatic thyroiditis (autoimmune disorder that destroys the thyroid
gland)
o Most common cause of hypothyroidism
o Symptoms = fatigue and sluggishness, anxiety, trouble sleeping, and weight changes, and
depression
o Affects women more
Cushing syndrome: abnormally high levels of the hormone cortisol (glucocorticoids)
Fall into depression as well
More Evidence for Hormones
Dexamethasone test: used to test for Cushing syndrome bc it looks at whether cortisol goes up or
down
o Suggests HPA axis is very important
o Cortisol receptor blockers RU- 486 sometimes used as a non-traditional remedy for
depression
Neurotransmitter hypothesis
Most commonly used hypothesis to explain changes in moods
o Monoamines play a pivotal role in behavior
o Both animal models and human models (substance abusers) give evidence that changes in NT
affect mood
PET studies show differences in areas of the brain associated with specific NTs
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