Why do some people sail through life’s difficulties, while others get mired in depression? A certain gene may explain such differences between people, a new study suggests.
Among the people in the study who had experienced highly stressful life events, those who had variants of the genes for a brain chemical called galanin were more likely to develop depression than those with similar experiences and normal galanin.
Galanin is a peptide widely found in the human nervous system, and is thought to be involved in regulating pain, waking and sleep, feeding, blood pressure and mood. A handful of studies have suggested that galanin has a role in stress and anxiety.
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The findings suggest that brain’s galanin system plays a significant role in the development of depression by making people more vulnerable to psychological stress.
Read the full, original story: Mood Gene: What Makes Some People Prone to Depression
