Depression is a medical condition that has many causes including genetics and prescription drugs. One cause that was recently discovered by researchers involves the correlation between a stroke and post-stroke depression. The impact of this research could help not only stroke patients in the future but further research on the treatment of depression.
Among stroke patients, there appears to be a strong link between functional impairment in a brain network responsible for emotional regulation and the severity of post-stroke depression, according to a study published online in the journal Radiology.
“A third of patients surviving a stroke experience post-stroke depression (PSD),” said lead researcher Igor Sibon, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology at the University of Bordeaux in France.
“However, studies have failed to identify a link between lesions in the brain caused by ischemia during a stroke and subsequent depression.”
Rather than look for dysfunction in a single area of the brain after a stroke, Dr. Sibon wanted to analyze a group of brain structures that are part of a network called the default-mode network (DMN).
Changes in connectivity in the DMN — which is associated with the internal thought process — have been observed in people with depression.
“The default-mode network is activated when the brain is at rest,” Dr. Sibon said. “When the brain is not actively involved in a task, this area of the brain is engaged in internal thoughts involving self-related memory retrieval and processing.”…More at Brain Network Dysfunction Linked to Depression in Stroke Patients …
For stroke patients, body and mental changes are usually experience. It can’t be change anymore but it can be managed through good health and social guidance. With enough social care and health care, a stroke patient can definitely prevent himself from experiencing depression.
Stroke patients usually experience depression or other mental disease.
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— blackcat8866 (vonne) (@blackcat8866) Sun Aug 12 2012
