Korean researchers identify brain differences linked to suicide risk

A Korean research team has identified distinct differences in brain networks among people with depression who have attempted to take their own lives, suggesting that altered neural wiring, not simply more severe symptoms, may increase the risk of suicidal behavior. Researchers at Korea University Anam Hospital said on Wednesday that patients with depression who had attempted suicide showed weaker connectivity between the brain’s visual cortex, which processes what people see, and the frontal lobe, which governs judgment and emotion. The findings were based on a study of 123 patients diagnosed with depression, compared to 81 participants in a control group, the team said. The team, led by psychiatry professors Han Kyu-man and Ham Byung-joo, analyzed brain activity using MRI scans taken while patients were at rest, along with clinical data and standard questionnaires on childhood trauma. The researchers focused on how different regions of the brain communicate with one another when a person is not performing any specific task, a method often used to detect underlying network differenceWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times