Feelings of dread and depression have been linked to an ancient part of the brain half the size of a pea that “teaches” us how to deal with threats.
The habenula, a structure so old that humans share it with zebra fish, also appears to damage people’s motivation and to slow their reactions when it is hyperactive. Neuroscientists led by a team from University College London have found that it plays a key role in how we learn to respond to things that might hurt us, and that it may influence levels of pessimism.
They suggested that ketamine, a drug used by nightclubbers and horse vets, could be used to dampen the habenula’s activity and soothe the symptoms of depression within hours.
Writing in Proceedings