[Source:  Medical News Today]

A new study published in JAMA Psychiatry suggests that children who were diagnosed with depression between the ages of 3-6 have a smaller brain region involved in emotion than those who were not depressed.

In the latest study, the anterior insula (red) on each side of the brain was smaller in preschool kids diagnosed with depression and those who experienced excessive guilt at early ages.

The researchers – led by Andrew Belden, assistant professor of child psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO – say their findings could help predict the risk of future depression, giving them an “anatomical marker” to use for those at high risk.

The area of the brain they focused on is the right anterior insula; each side of the brain has an insula, a key brain area involved in emotion, perception, self-awareness and cognitive function.

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