Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (2007-2012), major depression (2009-2014), sexual abuse (2010-2016), synaptic plasticity (2013-2018), glucocorticoid receptor gene NR3C1 (2014-2018) have been studied for a long time, indicating that these research directions are of significant value and scientists have invested a lot of time and funding in these directions. Here, NR3C1 is linked to major depressive disorder.