Depression, depressive symptoms, and rate of hippocampal atrophy in a longitudinal cohort of older men and women.

International audienceSeveral studies have reported smaller hippocampal volume (HcV) in depression patients; however, the temporality of the association remains unknown. One proposed hypothesis is that depression may cause HcV loss. This study evaluates whether previous depression and recent depressive symptoms are associated with HcV and HcV loss. We used a prospective cohort of older adults (n = 1328; age = 65-80 years) with two cerebral magnetic resonance imaging examinations at baseline and 4-year follow-up. Using multivariable linear regression models, we estimated, in stratified analyses by gender, the association between indicators of history of depression and its severity (age at onset, recurrence, hospitalization for depression), proximal depressive symptoms [Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale], baseline antidepressant use, and the outcomes: baseline HcV and annual percentage change in HcV. At baseline, women with more depressive symptoms had smaller HcV [-0.05 cm3, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.1 to -0.01 cm3 per 10-unit increase in CES-D scores]. History of depression was associated with a 0.2% faster annual HcV loss in women (95% CI 0.01-0.36%). More baseline depressive symptoms and worsening of these symptoms were also associated with accelerated HcV loss in women. No associations were observed in men. Treatment for depression was associated with slower HcV loss in women and men. While only concomitant depressive symptoms were associated with HcV, both previous depression and more proximal depressive symptoms were associated with faster HcV loss in women

Racial Residential Segregation in Young Adulthood and Brain Integrity in Middle Age: Can We Learn From Small Samples?

Racial residential segregation is associated with multiple adverse health outcomes in Black individuals. Yet, the influence of structural racism and racial residential segregation on brain aging is less understood. In this study, we investigate the association between cumulative exposure to racial residential segregation over 25 years (1985-2010) of young adulthood, measured by the Getis-Ord Gi*-statistic, and year 25 measures of brain volume in midlife (cerebral, gray matter, white matter, and hippocampal volumes). We studied 290 Black participants with available brain imaging data who were enrolled in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) prospective cohort study. CARDIA originally recruited 2637 Black participants aged 18 to 30 years old from 4 field centers across the United States. We conducted analyses using marginal structural models, incorporating inverse probability weighting and inverse censoring weighting. We found that compared to low/medium segregation, greater cumulative exposure to residential segregation throughout young adulthood was associated with smaller brain volumes in general (e.g. β for cerebral volume: -0.08 [95% CI]: [-0.15, -0.02]) and with a more pronounced reduction in hippocampal volume, though results were not statistically significant. Our findings suggest that exposure to segregated neighborhoods may be associated with worse brain aging