Charlotte Rogers

• BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences
• Examining cell structure in the hippocampus in late-life depression

Late-life depression affects between 12-15% of the population, yet its exact neurobiology is still not fully understood. The ‘vascular depression’ hypothesis suggests damage to vasculature involved in brain function plays a key role. Studies of the hippocampus in particular, a region involved in mood regulation, report reduced volume and increased neuronal atrophy in depressed patients.

We propose to examine the post-mortem brains of late-life depressed patients to assess any changes to the neuronal morphology in the CA1 and subiculum hippocampal regions. We believe that this approach may help find evidence helping to prove the ‘vascular depression’ hypothesis.

Funding source: Newcastle University