The neuroscience of sadness

Parastoo Hashemi explores the chemistry of our brains, and asks whether we might be able to create a simple chemical test to diagnose mental health problems.

As our physical health has steadily improved over the last century; our mental health continues to decline. Depression alone is one of the globe's most common ailments; affecting an estimated 300 million people. Diagnoses are based on behaviour and questionnaires, while medical treatments do not work for all those who take them, and dosage and type are determined on a trial-and-error basis. Furthermore, large-scale antidepressant drug discovery has been severely toned back by large pharmaceutical companies.

In this talk, analytical bioengineer Parastoo Hashemi will explore the history of our understanding of depression, and the three scientific theories that were first proposed in the mid 1900s. The monoamine theory postulates that the levels of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine, cause depression behaviour. The plasticity theory hypothesizes that loss of neuronal connections are to blame. The inflammation theory of depression is based on the strong links between immune activation and lowered mood.

Join Parastoo to learn how these theories led to the development of common antidepressants, and how her own research using ultramicroelectrodes to measure neurotransmitter levels could be opening up the bigger picture of depression.