Scientists have found that the more severely patients have been hit by depression across their lifespan, the less they react emotionally to negative faces during current depression. The researchers are now working to understand if this means that serious depression changes the way the brain reacts to emotion over time, or if people with stronger emotional responses to negative faces are less vulnerable to long-term depression. Either may have implications for future patient care. This work is presented at the ECNP conference in Lisbon, after recent publication.