Children from poor and disadvantaged families have more chances in the future to suffer from depression and other mental disorders.
Biologists from Duke University found that adolescents who grew up in poor and dysfunctional families, changes gene activity, which affects areas of the brain known as the amygdala. This, in turn, is associated with a greater likelihood of symptoms of clinical depression. This was reported in a study published in Molecular Psychiatry, reports the Chronicle.Info with reference to LIGA.News.
The study included 132 teenagers Caucasians aged 11-15 years. The children grew up in families with different income levels, from low to high. About half of the family history of the disease appeared depression that, according to scientists, is one of the biggest risk factors.
In his previous work, neuroscientists have shown that the scanning of the amygdala – areas of the brain responsible for the body’s response to the threat – by using functional MRI allows to predict who is more likely to experience depression in response to stress a few years later. A new study showed that the high activity of the same brain areas of people from poor families having history of depression, contribute to the development of affective disorders.
How the amygdala responds to threat, is largely determined by the work of the SLC6A4 gene, which helps control the level of serotonin – a neurotransmitter that plays a role in the development of clinical depression. Scientists have found that those living in poverty, increasing the number of connections that binds to DNA near SLC6A4 and reduces the activity of the latter.
