New research by University of Alberta neuroscientists shows that the brains of adolescents struggling with mental health issues may be wired differently from those of their healthy peers. The study, led by U of A psychologist Anthony Singhal , involved adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 who had a history of mental health problems including depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The teens received MRI scans designed to examine the white matter of their brains, which were then compared with scans from a second set of adolescents in the same age range who did not have a history of mental health issues. The results showed clear differences in connective neural pathways between the two groups. “We saw pathways that were less structurally efficient in the patients compared to the healthy controls,” explained Singhal, who is also a member of the U of A’s Neuroscience and Mental […]