Scientists have discovered a new brain pathway that could be targeted to ease depression, paving the way for new treatments for patients who do not benefit from current antidepressant medications.

Share on Pinterest Researchers say their brain pathway discovery could lead to new treatments for depression.

The research team, from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Evanston, IL, found blocking the BMP signaling pathway in the hippocampus – the brain region associated with emotion and memory – alleviated symptoms of depression and anxiety in mice.

The study is the first to show the BMP pathway is involved in depression, and the researchers believe their discovery could advance the development of new, effective therapies for the condition.

First author Sarah Brooker, an M.D/Ph.D. student at Feinberg, and colleagues publish their findings in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), in 2014, around 15.7 million American adults aged 18 and older had at least one major episode of depression in the past year, representing 6.7 percent of all adults in the United States.

Antidepressants are considered a primary treatment for patients with depression, but studies have shown that around 10-30 percent of patients fail to improve with the drugs or only show a partial response.

As a result, researchers are on the hunt for new therapeutic strategies for depression, and one way to achieve this feat is to get a better understanding of how current antidepressants work in the brain. This was the aim of the new study by Brooker and team.