A variation of a gene linked to mental illness has been found to shape the pulvinar, a part of the brain associated with negative emotions.
University of Texas researchers studied the brains of 49 deceased people, finding that those who had carried two short copies of the SERT gene, a gene related to serotonin transmission, tended to have pulvinars about 20 percent larger than others.
People with this variation have previously been shown to be more sensitive to emotional stimuli and more likely to be depressed.
Read more: Gene linked with mental illness shapes brain region, researchers find