RESEARCH
HDRF: AT THE FOREFRONT OF SCIENCE OF DEPRESSION BY BENNETT MARCUS
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finally entering that black box, and we can take our new understanding of the brain and incorporate it into the treatment of psychiatric disorders like depression.” Goal: Understanding the molecular basis of depression and anxiety In other areas of medicine, like cardiology or cancer, doctors look at the molecular basis of your illness. When you go to a psychiatrist, that doctor is not yet able to look at the molecular basis of your depression. The psychiatrist has to make an educated guess based on what the patient reports about their experience, and that’s a problem HDRF is working to solve. “Our goal is to one day see the field of psychiatry catch up with the rest of medicine in that we can understand the molecular basis of depression and anxiety. That takes the guesswork out of it.”
DAN B A S S I N I
AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of the Hope for Depression Research Foundation (HDRF), Louisa Benton works with a task force of top brain scientists who are identifying the origins and improving diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of depression and its related mood disorders like anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder and more. Fortunately, one of Ms. Benton’s many skills is the ability to translate these complex scientific findings into clear language for the general public. The brain, she explains, is a squishy three-pound mass of tissue. How that gives rise to moods and feelings is an ongoing mystery that has concerned mankind from the beginning of time. “For centuries, the brain has been a black box. But it’s a really exciting time to be alive now because of rapid advances in understanding brain activity,” Benton says. “Sunlight is