Cerebellum and Mental Illness

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170411130722.htm

This article talks about how people who experience signs of multiple mental illnesses instead of just one are causing researchers to look toward common dysfunctions in brain structures rather than just symptoms of an individual disorder. By doing brain scans on over a thousand undergrad students at Duke, they found that with most people exhibiting symptoms of multiple disorders, there are major differences in their cerebellum and pons. Researchers found that when a person has a higher p-factor score (exhibits symptoms from multiple disorders), there is a lower gray matter volume in the cerebellum. They also found less integrity of white matter between the pons which helps connect the cerebellum and the prefrontal cortex. The take away from this study is that some people may be biologically predisposed to exhibit a mental illness. A limit to this study was that the study may not be able to be replicated on a more diverse population.

This article stuck out to me because one of my favorite structures in the brain that we have learned about so far is the cerebellum. It is interesting to see that it may play a key role in whether or not people will experience multiple mental illnesses, and that it contributes to so much more than just movement and balance.

Comments

  1. Naje DickersonMay 2, 2017 at 7:19 AM

    It would be interesting to explore what other factors contribute to the differences in the brain structure other than mental illness. The stress from school, diets, injury, etc? From a sociological perspective, some believe mental illness is socially constructed and those who deviate from the norms of society get labeled as such. This discovery could prove that there is a brain malfunction that causes mental illness or at least makes people more prone to it since currently there are no ways to test for mental illness.

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  2. AnonymousMay 2, 2017 at 8:51 AM

    Though it is the common opinion that there is a genetic predisposition to mental illness, but this research provides a deeper level to the physiological signs of mental illness. It is interesting that this difference in the cerebellum is able to contribute to the development of mental disorders, as the cerebellum is primarily responsible for movement. it would be far more expected that differences in the PFC would cause differences in the likelihood of multiple disorders, as it is the hub for emotion.

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  3. UnknownMay 2, 2017 at 4:01 PM

    I agree that a lot of times it is functions in the brain that have affect on mental illness, with societal factors corresponding with it. Therefore, if doctors can catch these signs early on it could maybe help people overcome the societal factors of mental illness? It's at least a possibility.

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