kyburg | Whoa -

shadesong, Did you see this?

Imaging studies show that adolescents with major depression tend to have a small hippocampus. This is a part of the brain associated with motivation, emotion and memory formation.

The study, done by a team at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and the National Research Council of Canada, fits in with others that suggest depression can shrink the hippocampus.

Major stress and trauma -- both depression triggers -- can also cause the shrinkage.