CAMH Publishes Important Study on Depression

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has published groundbreaking new work supporting the 'chemical imbalance' theory of depression. In a paper appearing in the November 2006 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, Dr. Jeffrey Meyer investigated whether brain monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) — an enzyme that breaks down chemicals like serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine — was higher in those with untreated depression. Convincingly, the results showed that in major depression MAO-A was significantly higher in every brain region investigated. On average, MAO-A was 34% higher.


The next step for researchers will be to investigate why MAO-A levels are raised in the brain and to consider prevention strategies.