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Updated: May 16, 2026

Design and Implementation of an fMRI Study Examining Thought Suppression in Young Women with, and At-risk, for Depression
Published on: May 19, 2015
Brain, networks, depression, and more
Samuël J Leistedt1, Paul Linkowski
1Laboratory of Psychiatric Research, Department of Psychiatry, Erasme Academic Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles-U.L.B., Brussels, Belgium. samuel.leistedt@erasme.ulb.ac.be
Abstract:
Depression is a heterogeneous disorder with a highly variable course. Individual responses to treatment are inconsistent, and an established mechanism remains elusive. The classical hypothesis of depression posits that mood disorders are caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain that can be corrected with antidepressant drugs. However, recent evidence indicates that information-processing dysfunction within neural networks might underlie depression, and antidepressant drugs induce plastic changes in neuronal connectivity that gradually lead to improvements in neuronal information processing and recovery. This review presents the major current approaches to understanding the biological mechanisms of major depression, with a focus on complex brain networks.
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