Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Med Hypotheses. 2012 Dec;79(6):779-83. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2012.08.027. Epub 2012 Sep 20.
Depressive disorder can be viewed as an adaptive defense mechanism in response to excessive stress that has gone awry. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is an important node in the brain's stress circuit and suggested to play a role in several subtypes of depression. While the hippocampus, amygdala and prefrontal cortex are considered important regions implicated in stress regulation and depressive disorder, the existence of reciprocal monosynaptic cerebello-hypothalamic connections and the presence of dense glucocorticoid binding sites point towards the view that the cerebellum plays a functional role in the regulation of HPA-axis as well. The present hypothesis may further contribute to contemporary neurobiological views on stress regulation and depressive disorder, and may offer a potential biological basis for developing novel neurosomatic treatment protocols.
抑郁障碍可以被视为一种适应性防御机制，以应对过度的压力。下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴是大脑应激回路中的一个重要节点，被认为在几种不同类型的抑郁症中发挥作用。虽然海马体、杏仁核和前额叶皮层被认为是与应激调节和抑郁障碍相关的重要区域，但存在着相互的单突触小脑-下丘脑连接，以及大量的糖皮质激素结合位点，这表明小脑在 HPA 轴的调节中也起着功能作用。这一假说可能进一步促进了当代应激调节和抑郁障碍的神经生物学观点，并为开发新的身心治疗方案提供了潜在的生物学基础。
