Depression is the #1 most common mental illness… but why does it feel like there’s still so much we don’t know about it? With a rise in mental health awareness, it’s becoming a more common practice to see a therapist or take medications for illnesses like depression - yet the likelihood of ever being “cured” is slim to none. In fact, remission and relapse remain at an all-time high. This goes for more serious cases, but it also explains why the “winter blues” are a recurring thing… (no coincidence this podcast is out in January. 😉) What if more answers about this all-too-common illness lie beyond just our minds? In this podcast, we’re looking straight to the source: our brains. Laine walks us through findings from scientists like Davidson, Pizzagalli, De Raedt, and Koster who share what’s going on in the brain that causes depression, why it’s so easy to feel it over and over again, and the warning signs of it worsening in yourself or someone else. Some of the content in this episode may be hard to listen to, but when it comes to depression, knowing really is everything. We end with some great takeaways for you to support yourself and those you love, and for anyone who would like more resources you can find them under this episode at www.brainblownpodcast.com. If you have any topics you'd be interested in learning more about, please feel free to send us an email at [email protected]!! We'd love to hear from you. This episode is dedicated to my family; I hope it offers insight into a world we may never fully understand, and that we may now have a better map to continue navigating it together. I love you all so much. - Cherys TIMESTAMPS 0:55 - Intro 8:07 - “Caveman Jo” 10:08 - Why Neuroscience? - Break - 13:42 - The Brain + Hand Model Recap 16:12 - Prefrontal Cortex (PFT) 19:05 - Orbital and Ventral Cortex 20:20 - Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) 22:35 - Hippocampus 23:58 - Amygdala 25:07 - Hypothalamus, Pituitary, Adrenal (HPA) + Cortisol 27:38 - Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex 29:35 - Serotonin 32:13 - Norepinephrine 33:14 - Dopamine 34:11 - Brain Summary - Break - 36:47 - The Body 40:54 - The Behavior - Break - 47:12 - Takeaways RESOURCES Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition Depression: Perspectives From Affective Neuroscience by Richard J. Davidson, Diego Pizzagalli, Jack B. Nitschke, and Katherine Putnam Understanding vulnerability for depression from a cognitive neuroscience perspective: A reappraisal of attentional factors and a new conceptual framework by Rudi De Raedt and Ernst H. W. Koster Jaak Panksepp - "Affective neuroscience of the emotional BrainMind: evolutionary perspectives and implications for understanding depression" Moshe Bar - "A cognitive neuroscience hypothesis of mood and depression" Michael T. Treadway and David H. Zald - "Reconsidering Anhedonia in Depression: Lessons from Translational Neuroscience"