Why pain and stress lead to depression

Neuroscience Chronic stress or pain is associated with the development of depression. Descalzi et al. examined gene expression changes in the brain in mouse models of nerve injury– or chronic stress–induced depression. They found some common changes in the expression of genes encoding signaling pathway components that also occur in patients with depression, anxiety, and pain. Analysis of knockout mice suggested that the molecular changes may be the result of global changes in chromatin acetylation. Sci. Signal. 10 , eaaj1549 (2017).