Great St. A scientific group from the Higher School of Biomedical Systems and Technologies of St. Petersburg Polytechnic University discovered statistically significant differences in the inter-channel interactions of various parts of the brain in healthy subjects and patients with depression. This discovery will form the basis of an objective, instrumental method for diagnosing mental illnesses. St. Petersburg Polytechnic University told socialbites.ca about this.
Currently, depressive disorders and their associated consequences are one of the leading causes of disability and death in the world. Research is ongoing around the world for a way to instrumentally diagnose depression as well as other socially significant neuropsychiatric disorders.
It is known that there are changes in certain regions of the brain not only in patients with depression but also in patients with other mental and neurological disorders. They can be recorded using electroencephalography (EEG), which allows real-time analysis of the functional state of the brain, but to date no definitive connection has been found between specific changes in the brain and a specific disease.
Scientists analyzed EEG data from twenty-one healthy people and nine depressed patients. Analysis of the obtained data allowed SPbPU experts to record statistically significant differences in the inter-channel interactions of various parts of the brain in healthy subjects and patients with depression.
For example, in patients with depression, a decrease in interhemispheric occipital connections in the delta frequency range, an increase in right intrahemispheric connections between parietal and temporal regions in the theta frequency range, a decrease in frontal interhemispheric connections in the alpha frequency range, and other changes were found.
“Certain morphological changes can be observed in certain regions of the brain not only in patients with depression but also in patients with other mental and neurological disorders. Unfortunately, if certain changes have occurred, it is almost impossible to return to the original state, but the process can be paused. “Therefore, it is very important to diagnose the disease at an early stage, and this requires an objective diagnostic parameter,” he said. St. Olga Vlasova, director of the Higher School of Biomedical Systems and Technologies at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, told socialbites.ca. .
In the future, scientists plan to increase the data sample. This will make it possible to create a universal objective tool for diagnosing depression and other neurological and psychiatric diseases.
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