What does sadness look like in the brain?

You know how sad feeling is? And until recently, neuroscientists have discovered a little more about how melancholy emotions are from a scientific perspective.

They know that the part of the brain called amygdala is the place that controls sad feelings , but brain scanning is not fast enough to capture what's happening in every moment that moves in emotional state.

A team of researchers at the University of California requires 21 epilepsy patients to carefully record their moods.

Amygdala is the place to control sad feelings in the brain.

Each patient has previously been equipped with small cord devices to monitor their brain activity, making it easier for scientists to find patterns between brain activity and mood.

In a new article, published last Thursday in the journal Cell, researchers reported an unexpected finding.

In most patients, they found a link between sadness and a particular neural circuit connecting amygdala , related to emotional fluctuations, with the thalamus, helping to store memories.

Researcher Vikaas Sohal shared with NPR, there is a link between sadness and remembering bad things that happened.

In fact, it is unclear whether there is a connection between sad emotions and remembering the cause of that sadness.

However, Sohal said he hopes this discovery will bring comfort to patients in the form of a new explanation for what is happening during their misery:

'As a psychiatrist, we need a special power to tell patients: Hey, I know what's happening in your brain when you're feeling sad.'