It is often said that intelligent people are prone to depression, but others argue otherwise, that depressed people have significantly poorer cognitive abilities. A recent study published in the journal Nature Human Behavior found a unifying mechanism that explains both of these seemingly contradictory statements.
The study considered cognitive ability and intelligence as equivalent. Researchers found a large number of genes that act together between cognitive ability and self-assessed depressed mood.
The study tested a number of areas, including mathematical ability, knowledge, and verbal ability, as well as the participants’ memory, mobility, speed, and emotional intelligence, combining all of this information as an overall assessment of intelligence.
One of the researchers, Ole Andreassen, a researcher in psychiatry and genetics at the University of Oslo (Norway), said, “From the current study, it appears that there is a genetic link between intelligence and mood disorders.”
Previously, researchers had differing views on the relationship between depression and intelligence. When depressive symptoms are present, people typically experience a decline in cognitive ability, which also manifests as memory loss and a reduced ability to make decisions.
However, there are some people with depression who appear to have superior cognitive abilities, such as showing outstanding abilities in the arts and Music. Some studies have found that creative people are more prone to mood disorders.
This study claims to find a unifying mechanism that can explain both of these seemingly contradictory connections.
This research group found that depression and cognitive ability share a large number of genes. “We found that these two personality traits use a large number of the same genes, however, there is no direct genetic correlation between the two.” Andriasen said.
The researchers explained that about half of the shared genes cooperated to promote or suppress both traits, while the other half of the shared genes promoted one trait and suppressed the other.
In other words, the genes associated with depression and intelligence appear to act in no definite direction, in some cases the more depressed a person is the less cognitive power they have, and in other cases the more depressed they are the more cerebral power they have.
“This finding provides insights into these two important human traits from a shared genetic perspective, showing a shared neurobiological basis between them.” This could help find new ways to treat depression, Andriasen said.
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