Scientists are beginning to unwrap the biology behind why some people are more prone to major depression and other psychiatric disorders than others when experiencing stressful life events.
The researchers found that cellular activity in response to stress hormone receptor activation differs from individual to individual.
The study, led by Janine Arloth, Ryan Bogdan, and Elisabeth Binder at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Germany, also shows that the genetic variations underlying this difference in stress response correlate with dysfunction in the amygdala, a brain region that is an important part of the stress hormone response.
Arloth et al., 'Genetically determined differences in the immediate transcriptome response to stress predict risk-related brain function and psychiatric disorders', Neuron, DOI:/10.1016/j.neuron.2015.05.034