Two brain networks behave differently in people who are suicidal

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Brain activity may be different in people who have suicidal thoughts

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People who are suicidal seem to have unusual patterns of brain activity. The differences aren’t big enough to identify people who may try to kill themselves. “But we hope it will provide us with more information about what may be happening in terms of brain mechanisms,” says Anne-Laura van Harmelen at the University of Cambridge.

The finding comes from a review of 131 brain-scan studies, comprising more than 12,000 people. The analysis looked to see if there are distinctive patterns of brain activity in those who had made suicide attempts or had been thinking about suicide.

Most of these studies compared people with a certain mental health condition, such as depression, who had a history of suicidal behaviour, to a similar group with that condition who hadn’t become suicidal, or to people without mental health problems.

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Van Harmelen and her colleagues found that two brain networks appear to function differently. One of these involves areas at the front of the head known as the medial and lateral ventral prefrontal cortex and their connections to regions involved in emotion. This may lead to difficulties regulating emotions, says van Harmelen. A second involves regions known as the dorsal prefrontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus system, which play a role in decision making.

However, the differences in these brain networks may just reflect that people who are suicidal are in more distress, rather than indicating specific thoughts of suicide.

Other groups are trying to develop a blood test to predict suicidal behaviour – but this hasn’t yet been turned into something that can be used in the clinic. At the moment psychiatrists tend to use screening questionnaires to find those at most risk, but these aren’t very accurate.

Need a listening ear?  UK Samaritans: 116123; US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1 800 273 8255; hotlines in other countries.

Journal reference: Molecular Psychiatry, DOI: 10.1038/s41380-019-0587-x

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source: newscientist.com