FUNCTIONAL BRAIN CORRELATES OF RISK FOR MAJOR DEPRESSION IN CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS

The brain is arguably the most important organ in the human body. It controls and coordinates actions and reactions, allows us to think and feel, and enables us to have memories and feelings. Three brain structures namely the hippocampus, amygdala and prefrontal cortex help the brain determine what is stressful and how to respond. Depression in teenagers is a very serious medical problem that leads to long-lasting feelings of sadness along with a loss of interest in once enjoyed activities. Neuroimaging is the use of various techniques to either directly or indirectly image the structure and function of the nervous system. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are two in types, viz., structural and functional imaging. Functional neuroimaging has greatly helped in understanding the cognitive functions of the brain and its impact on mental health and human behaviour. This paper describes the different types of neuroimaging techniques and its needed software configurations with statistical parametric mapping. This paper also elaborates the basic operations and MATLAB activities and it compare the at-risk and control group depression imaging fMRI analysis techniques with its snapshots.