The relationship between depression and age-related brain decline might depend on an individual’s history with the mood disorder, a recent study says.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham had thought that people experiencing “brain fog” from aging might be more apt to relapse into depression. They found something different. People with sharper brains were more likely to fall back into depression, according to their findings published on May 6, 2026.
Among the people with a history of depression, those with better cognitive performance were actually more likely to experience future depressive symptoms, according to the researchers mentioned in the report published. Declines in memory, attention, and other brain functions affect as many as 90% of people with major depression, and 40% of people with depression have persistent brain impairment.Â
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The study involved monitoring 1,865 U.K. citizens who had suffered from depression before, and who were matched by the same number of individuals without any depressive history. All subjects took the tests assessing their cognition, as well as MRIs measuring the brain activity.
On average, the individuals who had been diagnosed with depression before showed a higher chance of developing it again compared with people experiencing depression for the first time – 33% compared with 13%.
It was noted that the patients suffering from depression, who had shown poorer results in brain testing tasks, were at a lower risk of having a relapse than those with better brain functioning results.
This contradicts the findings made in the case of non-depressed individuals, wherein poor test results in brain activity were indicative of a greater risk for depression. These people were 40% more prone to suffer from depression for the very first time.
According to the experts at the Alzheimer’s Association, depression and cognitive decline have a strong relationship, and more research needs to be done to crack the mystery.
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This content is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before starting or changing any medication or treatment.