Neuroplasticity in Depression: A Narrative Review With Evidence-Based Insights

Abstract

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. The current pharmacological treatmentoptions for MDD, which rely on the mono-amine hypothesis, has their limitations with respect to treatment non-response, partialresponse etc. This propels for a search for a novel neurobiological understanding of MDD that can lead to novel treatment options.A literature search strategy was thus employed using relevant keywords pertaining to the topic in PubMed, Embase and GoogleScholar. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses, narrative reviews and clinical trials were reviewed to incorporate the most robustevidence-based literature available. A total of 37 publications were narrowed down based upon the topic. Alterations in brainneuroplasticity, as evidenced by changes in neurotrophic factors and from neuroimaging, has been found to be a strong pathomechanismfor MDD. This link has been exploited to stimulate psychopharmacological research to treat MDD.