Studies on suicide victims and post-mortem studies on depressed patients show decreased levels of BDNF and tyrosine receptor kinase B (TrkB) in the cerebral cortex and suggest that it contributes to a reduced volume of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus, as well as to the loss of synapses in the course of depression [31]. The gene discussed is BDNF; the disease is depressive symptom measurement.