How Stress Shrinks The Brain
Scientists compared the genetic makeup of deceased human brains with and without major depression. What they found in the brains of individuals with depressive disorders was more limited and fragmented abilities to process information. This is due to a genetic transcription factor, or “switch,” that, when activated, can turn genes on or off. The transcription factor is known as GATA1, and it switches off the activity of key genes that form synaptic connections between the brain and neurons....