Technique May Identify Who's Most Sensitive to Brain Inflammation

Credit: jrduboc/Foter

• Study: Interferon-alpha (INF-α) treatment invoked immediate inflammatory responses
• Suggesting that striatum (rewards) directly affected by inflammation
• Also, early striatal changes related to development of illness behaviors
• Findings also suggest that fatigue and mood may be sustained by different striatal microcircuits
• Study involved 23 patients INF-α treatment for Hepatitis C
• Future Applications:
  • May identify who is most sensitive of brain inflammation 
  • Monitor response to anti-inflammatory depression therapies 
• Findings Published in Biological Psychiatry