Affecting one in seven Australians, depression is a serious mood disorder that affects both mental and physical health. We hope to understand the gene-brain connection that contributes to depression symptoms in order to inform better treatments.
The causes of depression can vary from person to person. For some, stressful life events such as the loss of a relationship or job, long-term unemployment, physical health issues, family problems, or the death of a loved one might trigger depression. For others, there is no obvious cause.
In addition to major depression, there are different types of depressive disorders that have different symptoms or varying degrees of the same symptom.
To receive a diagnosis a doctor may conduct a physical examination as well as a personal interview that explores how a person feels and how long they’ve experienced their symptoms. They may also follow this up with lab tests to rule out a physical condition that may be causing the symptoms.
There are many effective medical and psychological treatments available for depression. People may use one or a combination to find relief. The primary medical treatment for depression is antidepressant medication. Psychological treatments are known to help people to change negative patterns of thinking and improve their coping skills.
Our research focuses on identifying the gene-brain mechanisms that contribute to increased severity of anxiety and depression symptoms.
To better understand these mechanisms we are studying a large cohort of Australian adult twins over time. This is a very effective way to work out what is more important in brain development: specific genes or life experiences.
Once we better understand those factors, our ultimate aim is to discover methods of preventing anxiety and depression and how to predict the response to that treatment.
The methods we use to measure brain function include neurocognitive performance tests and magnetic resonance imaging scan (MRI).
NeuRA has shown the impact of childhood trauma on brain volume and brain function. This includes proving that exposure to early life trauma has a detrimental impact on brain volume and/or function. That effect is exacerbated when combined with specific genetic variants.
We have also demonstrated that the type of trauma exposure, for example child versus adult trauma, has a varying impact on depression and anxiety symptoms.
Further research has revealed depression and anxiety symptoms can be hereditary and are strongly influenced by genes, gender and environment, including life experiences and parenting styles.
Research Fellow, Group Leader - Laboratory of Immunopsychiatry, Neuroscience Research Australia
Principal Research Scientist
Senior Principal Research Scientist (Conjoint)
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