Changes to brain`s memory centre to prolonged pain influence depression: Study
Changes to one`s hippocampus, the brain`s memory centre, in response to prolonged pain could be an important factor for why some people develop depression in chronic pain, while others do not, according to a study.
"Our findings suggest that the hippocampus acts as a control centre that helps the brain regulate emotional responses to long-term pain. Depression is not inevitable -- it depends on how this system responds over time," co-lead author Jianfeng Feng, professor of computer science at the UK`s University of Warwick, said.
The study, published in the journal Science, analysed brain scans from population cohorts, including data from the UK Biobank, and a rodent model. People living with chronic pain but without depression tended to show a slightly larger volume of and an increased ...









