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Neurosurgical treatments for refractory depression) have been targeted at regions thought to be hyperactive in depression, including the subgenual region of the anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC), the medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), and the amygdala. Two studies add empirical support for this theory.
In one study, 16 healthy college students underwent functional MRI of the limbic system during tasks designed to elicit, and then to reduce, negative affect. The subjects first wrote about autobiographical experiences that evoked strong negative arousal. During fMRI, they evoked these memories again and were asked to focus on the negative emotions, to accept them as having happened in the past without relevance to current identit…