City-dwellers are at increased risk for mood and mental disorders like anxiety and schizophrenia, but for the first time, using MRIs, scientists have uncovered notable differences in brain activity, according to a new study published in the journal Nature.
"Previous findings have shown that the risk for anxiety disorders is 21 percent higher for people from the city, who also have a 39 percent increase for mood disorders," explained study author Jens Pruessner.
"In addition, the incidence for schizophrenia is almost doubled for individuals who are born and brought up in cities."
To discover why city residents have more mental health problems than those from rural areas, German researchers at the Central Institute of Mental Health used MRI technology to study the brain activity of healthy volunteers.
They found volunteers who currently lived in the city showed more stress response in the amygdala – the part of the brain that regulates emotions and moods – when compared to those from the country. Individuals who had grown up in the city had more activity in the cingulate cortex – the region that regulates stress.
"These findings suggest that different brain regions are sensitive to the experience of city living during different times across the lifespan," concluded Pruessner.
Researchers hope that further research can clarify the link between these changes in brain chemistry and the prevalence of mood disorders in city-dwellers.