History of depression linked with brain damage

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

People with Alzheimer's disease have more plaques and tangles in their brain when they have a lifetime history of depression.
Brain damage in the form of deposits called plaques and features called tangles are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease and are found on post-mortem. Now researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, show that a history of depression seems to accentuate these features.

They compared the brains of 44 Alzheimer's patients with depression and 51 without. There were significant differences between the two groups - those with depression had more plaques and tangles in the hippocampus than those without. The hippocampus is a structure linked to memory and learning which is usually damaged in dementia. Previous work has suggested a link between depression and Alzheimer's disease. These new findings underline this and point the way to further research that might lead to a better understanding of the brain mechanisms involved.

Source
Archives of General Psychiatry February 2006 Volume 63 pages 161-167