New Study Challenges Long‑Held Link Between Depression and Hippocampal Shrinkage

For over a decade, researchers have associated depression with a reduced hippocampus, the brain region critical for memory. A recent large‑scale study employing the latest magnetic‑resonance imaging techniques, however, found no evidence that depression causes hippocampal shrinkage. The findings suggest that the previously reported brain changes may have been overestimated or confounded by older imaging methods. While the study does not negate the cognitive symptoms of depression, it calls for a reassessment of how the disorder affects brain structure.