BDNF and major depressive disorder: More specifically, exposure to corticosterone decreases BDNF expression in the brain; this suggests a negative relationship between cortisol and BDNF (Smith et al., 1995), which alters mood and may cause depression (Brunoni et al., 2008; Stein et al., 2008; Hashimoto, 2010; Polyakova et al., 2015).