TriVita Research & Focus

Winter Blues Linked to Brain Chemical Levels
Toronto, Canada 

Using positron emission tomography (PET) technology, researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto found that levels of serotonin (a mood-altering brain chemical) may be lower in the fall and winter. Because serotonin helps regulate mood and energy levels, this may help researchers understand seasonal affective disorder and other seasonal mood changes.

Study author Jeffrey Meyer said that this discovery is “an important lead in understanding how season changes serotonin levels. This offers an explanation for why some healthy people experience low mood and energy in the winter, and why there is a regular reoccurrence of depressive episodes in fall and winter in some vulnerable individuals. The next steps will be to understand what causes this change and how to interfere with it.”

Source: TriVita VitaJournal December 2008 pg 21.