U.S. researchers report that a thinning in the right hemisphere of the brain might be associated with a higher risk for depression. The study, which included 131 people, aged 6 to 54, revealed that those with a family history of depression appear to have brains that are 28% thinner in the right cortex – the outermost layer of the brain – than those with no known family history of the disease. According to Dr. Bradley Peterson of Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, a thinner cortex might increase depression risk by disrupting the ability to pay attention to, and interpret, social and emotional cues from other people. Tests conducted on study participants showed that the thinner the right cortex, the worse a person performed on attention and memory tests.