Depression May Reduce the Amount of White Matter in the Brain Reading Answers

Feb 26, 2025

Depression May Reduce the Amount of White Matter in the Brain Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. Depression May Reduce the Amount of White Matter in the Brain Reading Answers has a total of 14 IELTS questions in total.In the question set you have to choose which paragraph contains the given statement. In the next question set you have to state whether the statement is true, false or not given. In the last question set you have to match the statement with the correct statement.

The IELTS Reading section is an essential part of the test that evaluates a candidate's comprehension and analysis of various passage types. You will work through a number of IELTS reading practice problems in this section that resemble actual test situations. These questions are designed to help you improve your ability to recognize essential concepts, extract particular facts, and make inferences. Practicing these IELTS reading problems can help you get comfortable with the structure and increase your confidence for the exam, regardless of whether you are studying for the Academic or General Training module.

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Section 1 DEPRESSION MAY REDUCE THE AMOUNT of WHITE MATTER IN THE BRAIN

A. Your brain looks different if you have depression, a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. But many of the differences seem to be caused by depression, rather than preceding it. When neuroscientists compare the brains of people with and without depression, there are common dissimilarities. For example, people with depression tend to have a smaller hippocampus, a brain region important in forming memories. But it has been difficult to work out whether such differences cause the symptoms of depression or whether they result from the disorder, says Heather Whalley at the University of Edinburgh, UK. "We don't know which causes which."

B. To answer the question, Whalley and her colleagues turned to two huge genetic databases. Consumer genetic testing company 23andMe holds information on the DNA and depressive symptoms of tens of thousands of individuals, and the UK Biobank collects DNA, lifestyle and behaviour questionnaires and brain scans from thousands more. Whalley and her colleagues used this data, as well as already-published research, to create what is known as a polygenic risk score (PRS) for depression. A PRS assigns weight to various genetic factors that are thought to contribute to the risk of a condition. They made sure their PRS worked by testing it in a separate sample of 11,214 people. The team then assessed the brain scans and behaviour records of those individuals with a PRS that put them at a genetic risk of depression. They found that people with higher genetic risk scores tended to have less white matter in their brains, and that it didn't seem to be functioning as well.

C. Whalley and her team then used a statistical analysis to work out whether these white matter differences were causing the depression or resulting from it. The analysis takes into account brain structure and depression symptoms, and looks at how closely each is related to genetic factors. Genes are present from birth, so if genetic factors are more closely linked to symptoms, for example, that suggests that the symptoms were present before the brain structure differences. The team found that many brain differences appear to be caused by depression. But differences in a region of the brain called the anterior thalamic radiation appear to come before depression. This suggests that the genes that put a person at risk of depression do so via this particular brain network. "It does make sense," says Whalley. "It's the main relay centre for information going to and from the brain.'

D. Depression symptoms and behaviours could end up impacting the brain's white matter connections more generally, says Maxime Taquet at the University of Oxford, who wasn't involved in the study. "It might be that patients with depression... do not use some of the brain connections that other people would use," he says. Being socially withdrawn, or focusing more on the negative than the positive, could have an effect, he says. "We know that if we don't use a pathway in the brain, that pathway starts to shrink."

E. Whalley's team also found a host of lifestyle factors and experiences that seem to be linked to depression. They found that a combination of childhood trauma and poverty put individuals at the greatest risk of depression. While childhood trauma was a risk factor in causing depression, trauma in adulthood wasn't. "Experiencing high levels of stress at a young age can disrupt a person's stress coping mechanisms for life", says Whalley. "It might mean that you'll need a smaller trigger to have a much more stressful response," she says.

F. Child abuse or poverty can also alter which genes are active in the developing brain through a process called epigenesis. These changes can lead to diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. "Childhood maltreatment is like a surgical strike on the brain," says Carmine Pariante, who studies the effects of stress on child development at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. "This explains why these individuals are at risk of developing a host of stress-related disorders later in life — because they have an impaired ability to cope With stress. "

G. "Findings Like this indicate that maltreatment can leave damage hidden deep Inside the body that persists for many years," says Terrie Moffitt of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. "Once we appreciate that child maltreatment brings hidden damage that can resurface years later as memory problems, preventing child abuse seems like a very good deal."

Questions 14-17

Reading Passage 2 has seven sections A-G.

Which section contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-G.

14. A prerequisite for more strong stress-related reactions

Answer: E

Supporting statement:It might mean that you'll need a smaller trigger to have a much more stressful response

Keywords: trigger, stressful

Keyword Location: Para E, Line 5-6

Explanation: The text states that adult trauma was not a risk factor for depression, but childhood trauma was. A person's lifelong stress coping mechanisms may be affected by early contact with high amounts of stress. It may indicate that a significantly more stressful reaction will require a smaller trigger.

15. An example of differences In brain structure between depressed and individuals

Answer: A

Supporting statement:people with depression tend to have a smaller hippocampus, a brain region important in forming memories.

Keywords: hippocampus, forming

Keyword Location: Para A, Lines 5-6

Explanation: The hippocampus, a part of the brain crucial for memory formation, is often smaller in people with depression compared to the people who don’t have depression.

16.The function of white matter in the brain

Answer: C

Supporting statement:"It's the main relay centre for information going to and from the brain.'

Keywords: main, information

Keyword Location: Para C, Lines 9-10

Explanation: The text states that the white matter allows information to be exchanged between different parts of the brain.

17. A suggestion for preventing persisting damage brought by child mistreat

Answer: G

Supporting statement: preventing child abuse seems like a very good deal

Keywords: preventing, abuse

Keyword Location: Para G, Line 4

Explanation:The text highlights that if a child is subjected to maltreatment in their early life they can develop diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Also they will have a hard time dealing with difficult situations in their adulthood as they have no ability to cope with the stress that comes with it.

Questions 18-21

Do the following statements agree with the

information given in Reading Passage 2?

In boxes 18-21 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

18. Whalley found that depression is a direct cause of having a bad memory.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: No information regarding the statement asked is given in the passage.

19. Genetic risk scores acted as a prediction of depression.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement:that people with higher genetic risk scores tended to have less white matter

Keywords: genetic, white matter

Keyword Location: Para B, Line 10

Explanation:The polygenic risk score (PRS) for depression was developed by Whalley and her colleagues using two large genetic databases and previously published research. The results of their assessment showed that the white matter in the brains of those with higher genetic risk scores tended to be smaller and appeared to be less functioning.

20. Depression contributes to most brain structure differences.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: The team found that many brain differences appear to be caused by depression.

Keywords: found, differences

Keyword Location: Para C, Line 6

Explanation:The text mentions that depression can cause the brain to have different structures. Such as the white matter in those of depressed people appeared smaller as compared to the people who do not have depression.

21. Neglected parts in the brain can still maintain their functions.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement:We know that if we don't use a pathway in the brain, that pathway starts to shrink.

Keywords: pathway, shrink

Keyword Location: Para D, Line 5-6

Explanation: The text states that if the certain part of the brains are left unused they will seize to function properly

Questions 22-26

Look at the following statements and the list of

people's names below. Match each statement

with the correct person, A-D.

Write the correct letter, A-D.

22. Young children suffering from stress may find it hard to handle stress later in life.

Answer: C

Supporting statement:This explains why these individuals are at risk of developing a host of stress-related disorders later in life

Keywords: maltreatment, adulthood

Keyword Location: Para F, Lines 5-6

Explanation: According to Carmine Pariante maltreatment in the childhood can lead to a child developing stress related disorder in their adulthood this is due to their in ability to cope up with stress.

23. Depressed people's brains may not well-function compared to others.

Answer: B

Supporting statement:It might be that patients with depression... do not use some of the brain connections that other people would use,

Keywords: patients, brain

Keyword Location: Para D, Line 3

Explanation:According to Maxime Taquet, patients with depression might not use some part of their brain in comparison to the people who don't have depression; this could be because of their social withdrawal or their thought process which involves thinking more about the negative instead of the positive.

24. A higher genetic risk of depression may result in white matter differences and obstructing brain functions.

Answer: A

Supporting statement:This suggests that the genes that put a person at risk of depression do so via this particular brain network

Keywords: genes, brain network

Keyword Location: Para C, Line 8

Explanation: According to The statistical analysis done by William and her team the genetics might be the way to find out if the brain differences regarding the white matter was present after or before in a person due to depression. Their research also suggests that the jeans that put a person at a risk of depression comes from a particular brain network. This research purpose is to look closely into factors that cause a relation between depression and genetics.

25. Memory issues resulted from child mistreatment tend to appear again after being absent for a long time.

Answer: D

Supporting statement: child maltreatment brings hidden damage that can resurface

years later as memory problems

Keywords: hidden damage, memory problems

Keyword Location: Para G, Line 3

Explanation:According to Terrie Moffitt If a child suffers from Maltreatment in their early ages it is possible for the trauma to resurface years later and develop into memory problems. so it is important to prevent any kind of child abuse as it may result into a disorder or a psychological issue in the new future.

26. Abused and impoverished children are easily susceptible to stress in the future.

Answer: C

Supporting statement:This explains why these individuals are at risk of developing a host of stress-related disorders later in life

Keywords: Individuals, stress-related

Keyword Location: Para F, Lines 5-6

Explanation:According to Carmine Pariante it is possible that a child who had suffered from abuse and poverty may develop any kind of psychological disorder or disease in their adulthood to do the triggering effect caused by the severe stress caused to them by the living conditions or childhood treatment.

A. Heather Whalley

B. Maxime Taquet

C. Carmine Pariante

D. Terrie Moffitt

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