Biological Mechanism of Brain Shrinkage Revealed

Major depression or chronic stress can cause the loss of brain volume, a condition that contributes to both emotional and cognitive impairment. Ronald S Duman, from Yale University (Connecticut, USA), and colleagues have discovered a single genetic switch that triggers loss of brain connections . The team reports that a single transcription factor known as GATA1 represses the expression of several genes that are necessary for the formation of synaptic connections between brain cells, which in turn could contribute to loss of brain mass in the prefrontal cortex.