This study, entitled, "Depressive Rumination, the DEFAULT-MODE NETWORK, and the DARK MATTER of Clinical NEUROSCIENC'' shows that depression DISTORTS a NATURAL process,” said Dr. John Krystal, editor of Biological Psychiatry,
In depression, it seems that the subgenual prefrontal cortex RUNS AMOK HIJACKING NORMAL SELF REFLECTION IN A MALADAPTIVE WAY
New Brain research examines the brain mechanisms behind rumination, focuses mainly on the subgenual prefrontal cortex (sgPFC) in the brain and another area in the brain, the default mode network (DMN), which is typically associated with REFLECTION.
In this recently published model, the authors " propose that increased functional connectivity between sgPFC and the DMN in MDD represents an integration of the self-referential processes supported by the DMN with the affectively laden, behavioral withdrawal processes associated with sgPFC—an integration that produces a functional neural ensemble well suited for depressive rumination and that, in MDD, abnormally taxes only sgPFC and not the DMN"
The authors say “It would seem that normally the subgenual prefrontal cortex helps to bias the reflective process supported by the default mode network so that we can consider important problems in the service of developing strategies for solving them.
"These negative, spiraling thoughts have a long-term toll on physical, mental, and emotional health: they leave no room to think and impair memory; can make patients feel fatigued and anxious; and impair cognitive ability."
One major feature of depression involves “rumination,” or the tendency to focus primarily on feelings of guilt, shame, or self-deprecation.
The brain research found that these depressive ruminations were more likely to appear in depressed patients when the sgPFC’s activation was closely coordinated with that of the DMN. This connectivity is what increases ruminating thoughts
To us this seems like one of the things that Facebook Support Group excesses encourage....despite some of the good things that arise. This problem is particularly conspicuous in those nominally "support" groups for those with Gender Identity concerns, in whom Major Depression frequently arises and leads to an astonishing FORTY PERCENT suicide attempt rate.
The endless involvement with digital life rather than real life and the introspection about not only yourself but the relation of your own ruminations to those of dozens and hundreds of others produces an avalanche of non productive brain networking....in the pivotal Default Mode Networking...that in turns draws attention and mental energy away from the Task Network which is directly to outward tasks in opposition to the endless introspection of the DMN.
"The way that depressed people repetitively attend to these negative thoughts in an unproductive manner reflects the reasoning behind use of the term ruminations -- because they call to mind the repetitive chewing of cud by ruminants like cows or goats."
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