The lateral habenula in depression: a mini-review

  Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.27659v1
Published
Accepted
Subject Areas
Neuroscience, Cognitive Disorders, Psychiatry and Psychology
Keywords
habenula, depression, neuropsychiatry, lateral habenula, major depressive disorder
Copyright
© 2019 Street
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Street S. 2019. The lateral habenula in depression: a mini-review. PeerJ Preprints 7:e27659v1

Abstract

Although much remains unknown about this once-obscure structure, the lateral habenula is receiving increasing attention as a component of the circuitry of many conditions including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, pain disorders, substance use disorders, psychosis spectrum disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. In depression research, there is growing interest in this structure as a component of the brain’s “anti-reward system”, since it can inhibit the release of monoamines into regions involved in the expectation, pursuit, and receival of rewards. This mini-review covers the basics of lateral habenula structure and function, and discusses recent advances made in understanding habenular dysfunction in depression.

Author Comment

This is a preprint submission to PeerJ Preprints.