Eus van Someren

This presentation will explore the relationship between the brain and the three most common mental health conditions: insomnia disorder, major depressive disorder, and anxiety disorders. These conditions often co-occur and share genetic factors, pointing to similar, yet unclear, brain mechanisms. I will present our study in which we analyzed MRI-derived brain imaging data from 40,000 UK Biobank participants to examine how brain structure and function relate to symptoms of these disorders.

We found that smaller cortical areas, thalamic volumes, and lower functional connectivity were associated with more severe symptoms in all three conditions. In addition to these common findings, our analysis identified specific brain regions and pathways that were uniquely related to the severity of symptoms in one condition. Notably, symptom-specific brain correlations were found in the amygdala-hippocampal-medial frontal circuit, indicating a possible shared basis for symptom interaction.

Our results, highlighting both shared and unique brain circuits related to insomnia, depression, and anxiety, enhance our comprehension and offer hypotheses for further investigation into these mental health conditions