Interestingly, it has been shown that this alteration is age-dependent: in grey matter of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of younger depressed patients (<50 years old), the density of GFAP+ astrocytes is significantly reduced compared to controls of similar age; in contrast, older subjects with late-onset depression presented increased astrocytic population in the same area (Miguel-Hidalgo et al., 2000), probably reflecting a compensation to neuronal loss observed in older MDD patients (Rajkowska et al., 2005). The gene discussed is GFAP; the disease is major depressive disorder.