Posted by SLS on July 12, 2004, at 13:12:53
In reply to McMan's Depression/Bipolar Weekly: Genetics, posted by jrbecker on July 12, 2004, at 10:32:27
I was not happy to read this. It leaves me with the feeling that my brain is damaged beyond repair. It probably is. I don't know what to do. I am trapped.
- Scott
> There is likely no one-to-one association or simple cause and effect, say the authors. Instead, we have a sort of chaos theory turned loose inside the brain. Mutations in the serotonin transporter gene and the NMDA receptor gene, for example, may result in a decrease in amygdala volume and/or an increase in amygdala activity, associated with fear. This, combined with stress, may either lead to impaired learning and memory, which in turn triggers major depression, or may travel a different path to the same end via an inclination toward negative moods. In the meantime, stress is the proverbial bull in the china shop, this time beginning with genetic misprints in proteins responsible for cell maintenance - including BDNF, MR, CREB, and bcl-2 - that results in a trail of brain cell damage in the hippocampus, involved in emotional response. A shorted out hippocampus, in turn, combines with stress to feed into the chemical storm sweeping in from the amygdala. On and on it goes
poster:SLS
thread:365292
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040712/msgs/365339.html