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Some Canadian researchers would have discovered how our brain reacts in season to the changes, provoking thus a seasonal depression at some people in fall and in winter.

According to the results, the activity of the enzymes assigned to eliminate the serotonin. the monoamine oxidase – is strongly increased when lowers the brightness, and decreased when light increases.

It is why the rates of cerebral serotonin – a hormone that plays a key role in the neurological functions – would vary according to the seasons, or more precisely according to the photoperiod (the relative length of day and the night).

The researchers observed that in fall and in winter, the rates of the enzymes are carriers of serotonin raised more than in the spring, what would explain the impact of the cases of seasonal depressions when the hours of sunshine decrease.

For the purpose of this survey, 88 healthy adults have been submitted to exams of cerebral imagery (or tomography scanner), to various moments of the year, aiming to measure the rates of monoamine oxidase.

Light: an antidepressant?

According to researcher Gilles Vandewalle, specialist of the light effect on the mood, this discovery indicates that light could act as some of the most efficient antidepressants: the selective inhibitors of the reuptake of the serotonin.

In the Nordic countries as Canada, the seasonal depression would touch from 3% to 8% of the adult population. The light is best documented treatment to treat this condition. According to Gilles Vandewalle, also doctor in neuroscience, the light is efficient at about two out of three patients suffering of seasonal depression. The symptoms are reduced from 50% to 80%, what would be comparable to the clinical effect of the antidepressants.

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