Preschoolers with depression, develop high activity in the cerebral tonsil (a structure that regulates emotions), compared to others of similar ages who are healthy. This is the main conclusion of an investigation developed by the Washington University School of Medicine.
The research has been based on 54 children aged four to six, of whom 23 had been diagnosed with depression, although none of them had taken antidepressant medication.Between the two groups of children there were no differences in demographic and clinical characteristics, except that the depressed had higher scores in the subscale of negativity, and lower in expression of emotions.
Participants were shown photos of faces of people expressing different emotions, and in the meantime they were scanned to observe their brain activity. In depressed children increased activity of the amygdala was observed compared to healthy partners.
Previous imaging studies identified similar changes in the tonsil region in adults, adolescents and older children with depression, but the activity of this structure in young children had not yet been studied.
Children with depression participating in the study showed activity in the amygdala regardless of the emotion on the faces that were shown to them. Normally in other age groups, one reacts more to expressions of fear, or pain, compared to those that show happiness or no emotion.
According to the lead author of the research (Michael Gaffrey), the differences in the brains of the two groups of children, could mark the beginning of a lasting health problem; This researcher affirms that the results should not motivate the prescription of medications for preschoolers, but rather provide training so that parents know different ways of raising children, with the objective that this training - in turn - serves the little ones. to get emotions coping skills such as fear, anger, or stress.
What catches my attention most in this study is not the main conclusion obtained, but that such children are diagnosed with depression, and I think that a little psychiatric diagnosis is currently being abused in children, as already We saw in the case of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
But in any case, it is very interesting know specific aspects about brain activity, and in this case it is the deregulation of brain activity that occurs in depression.
