The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time

by Alex Korb

You know that depression is a dysfunction in frontal-limbic communication. You know that the prefrontal cortex helps manage your emotions and desires so that you can plan for the future. The dorsal striatum acts out old habits, and the nucleus accumbens controls enjoyment and impulses. The anterior cingulate manages attention to the negative or the positive, and the insula is responsible for emotional sensations. The amygdala mediates anxiety. The hypothalamus regulates numerous hormones and controls the stress response. The hippocampus is closely tied to the amygdala and hypothalamus and is essential to learning and memory.