title: Depression: from psychopathology to pathophysiology.
abstract: Major depression is a psychiatric disorder with high prevalence. Both specialists in cognitive psychopathology and neurobiologists have proposed explanations of the process/systems that exhibit altered functioning during this disorder. Psychological processes that are dysfunctional in depressed patients include alterations in self-referential schemas, cognitive biases, ruminations and processing mode (over-general versus concrete). These cognitive processes are associated with altered function of specific brain systems, including prefrontal areas and cingulate cortex (both involved in self-referential processes and rumination), amygdala (cognitive bias), lateral habenula (cognitive bias) and hippocampus (cognitive bias and overgeneral processing). This review aims to present a coherent view integrating these two approaches in a unique model.
authors.affiliation: INSERM 930 & Université François Rabelais, F 37300 Tours, France. Electronic address: catherine.belzung@univ-tours.fr.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Belzung
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Willner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Université catholique de Louvain, B 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Philippot
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D011599:Psychopathology