{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.biology-of-depression","code":"thing-q4915062","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q4915062/","name":"biology of depression","alternateNames":["monoamine hypothesis"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.2","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Cross-cutting context","entryKind":"thing","plane":"XCT","domain":["XCT.REL"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"The study of the biological mechanisms that contribute to depressive disorders, including hypotheses about neurotransmitters such as the monoamine hypothesis of serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine, stress and hormone systems, inflammation, neuroplasticity and brain circuits, genetics and gene-environment interaction, and circadian and sleep disturbance; the biology of depression is one strand among psychological and social explanations, and its findings inform but do not fully explain depression or its treatment.","purpose":"Let an agent explain the biological hypotheses of depression and their evidence with attribution, present them alongside psychological and social factors, describe how they inform treatment in general terms, and route personal mental health questions to professionals and crises to services.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Multiple hypotheses","Contested evidence","Treatment relevance","Part of biopsychosocial model"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"Biological hypotheses.","layers":[{"id":"hypotheses","name":"Hypotheses","description":"Hypotheses and evidence.","findings":[{"id":"hypotheses-finding","name":"Hypotheses","description":"Hypotheses.","questions":[{"text":"What do the monoamine, stress, inflammation, neuroplasticity and genetic hypotheses propose, and what does evidence say about each, with findings attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the user asking about their own mental health, which needs a professional?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"model","name":"Model","description":"Biopsychosocial model.","findings":[{"id":"model-finding","name":"Model","description":"Model.","questions":[{"text":"How do biological factors fit with psychological and social factors in models of depression?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits depression as a disorder?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"treat","name":"Treat","description":"Treatment implications.","layers":[{"id":"treatments","name":"Treatments","description":"Biological treatments.","findings":[{"id":"treatments-finding","name":"Treatments","description":"Treatments.","questions":[{"text":"How do antidepressants and other biological treatments relate to these hypotheses, and what do guidelines say, in general terms?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is someone in crisis, needing emergency or crisis services now?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"other","name":"Other","description":"Other treatments.","findings":[{"id":"other-finding","name":"Other","description":"Other.","questions":[{"text":"How do psychological and social treatments complement biological approaches, according to guidelines?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits psychotherapy?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"debate","name":"Debate","description":"Debates.","layers":[{"id":"serotonin","name":"Serotonin","description":"The monoamine debate.","findings":[{"id":"serotonin-finding","name":"Serotonin","description":"Serotonin.","questions":[{"text":"What do reviews and researchers say about the status of the serotonin hypothesis, with positions attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation balanced and attributed?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"research","name":"Research","description":"Research frontiers.","findings":[{"id":"research-finding","name":"Research","description":"Research.","questions":[{"text":"What research is under way on biomarkers, circuits and new treatments, and which findings are uncertain?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits psychiatric research?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"learn","name":"Learn","description":"History and teaching.","layers":[{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How did biological theories of depression develop from early antidepressants to modern neuroscience?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"teach","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","findings":[{"id":"teach-finding","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","questions":[{"text":"How can the biology of depression be taught without reductionism or stigma?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which misconceptions arise?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain biological hypotheses about depression with the evidence for and against each.","Say clearly that no single biological cause is established.","Point people who feel depressed to a clinician or crisis line."],"mustNot":["Diagnose depression in a person.","Advise starting, stopping or changing antidepressants or other treatment.","Present the chemical imbalance idea as settled fact or as disproven beyond what evidence shows.","Use biology to claim people with depression are defective or to blame."],"requiresHuman":["Responding to a person who expresses thoughts of suicide, which needs human crisis support."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Depression is common and serious; misinformation can stop people seeking help.","Biological explanations can reduce or increase stigma depending on how they are told."],"affectedParties":["People with depression","Families","Clinicians and researchers"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns the field; researchers answer for their findings.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q5054620","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"causes of mental disorders","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"stress","type":"related","note":"a contributing factor"},{"target":"insomnia","type":"related","note":"sleep disturbance in depression"},{"target":"neurology","type":"related","note":"a related medical field"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.biology-of-depression","Wikidata: Q4915062 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4915062)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Biological mechanisms of depression","Neurotransmitters, stress systems, inflammation, genetics","Psychological and social causes are complementary; depression itself is the disorder","Not physical; a body of research."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain hypotheses and evidence","present them within a wider model","describe treatment implications generally","route personal questions and crises"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Presenting the monoamine hypothesis as established fact","Agents giving personal mental health advice","Missing crisis situations"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Clinical guidelines for depression","Research ethics in psychiatry","Medicines regulation for antidepressants"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Biological mechanisms in depressive disorders.","monoamine hypothesis","stress and hormone hypotheses","inflammation hypotheses","neuroplasticity and circuit models","genetic and circadian factors"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q4915062: biology of depression","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4915062","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Biology of depression","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology_of_depression","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should each hypothesis be a separate entry?","How should research reviews be linked?","How should mental health services be linked?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q4915062/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q4915062/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T04:14:57Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:52:00+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane XCT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}