Post Mortems Reveal Clear Differences in The Brain Cells of People With Depression 5 FEBRUARY 2021 A comparison of brain tissues taken from individuals who died by suicide has for the first time linked chronic depression with a stark drop in the number of specific kinds of supportive nerve cells.
While the finding doesn't demonstrate a cause for the decline, or necessarily describe how higher numbers of cells might protect mental health – if at all – it does establish a new area of investigation that could one day lead to early diagnosis and treatment for depression. Researchers from Douglas Mental Health University Institute and McGill University in Canada analysed brain tissue taken from 10 men diagnosed with depression who passed away from suicide. These were compared with 10 samples of tissue taken by post-mortem from different brain regions in men who died suddenly without a mental-health diagnosis.