Cortical thickness and VBM in young women at risk for familial depression and their depressed mothers with positive family history

WOS: 000377354600001PubMed ID: 27136662It has been demonstrated that compared to low-risk subjects, high-risk subjects for depression have structural and functional alterations in their brain scans even before the disease onset. However, it is not known if these alterations are related to vulnerability to depression or epiphenomena. One way to resolve this ambiguity is to detect the structural alterations in the high-risk subjects and determine if the same alterations are present in the probands. In this study, we recruited 24 women with the diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) with recurrent episodes and their healthy daughters (the high-risk for familial depression group; HRFD). We compared structural brain scans of the patients and HRFG group with those of 24 age-matched healthy mothers and their healthy daughters at similar ages to the HRFD group; respectively. Both cortical gray matter (GM) volume and thickness analyses revealed that HRFD daughters and their MDD mothers had similar GM differences in two regions: the right temporoparietal region and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. These results suggested that the observed alterations may be related to trait clinical and neurophysiological characteristics of MDD and may present before the onset of illness. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.Scientific and Technological Research Council of TurkeyTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [109S134]This work was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Project Number 109S134)

Cortical thickness and VBM in young women at risk for familial depression and their depressed mothers with positive family history

It has been demonstrated that compared to low-risk subjects, high-risk subjects for depression have structural and functional alterations in their brain scans even before the disease onset. However, it is not known if these alterations are related to vulnerability to depression or epiphenomena. One way to resolve this ambiguity is to detect the structural alterations in the high-risk subjects and determine if the same alterations are present in the probands. In this study, we recruited 24 women with the diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) with recurrent episodes and their healthy daughters (the high-risk for familial depression group; HRFD). We compared structural brain scans of the patients and HRFG group with those of 24 age-matched healthy mothers and their healthy daughters at similar ages to the HRFD group; respectively. Both cortical gray matter (GM) volume and thickness analyses revealed that HRFD daughters and their MDD mothers had similar GM differences in two regions: the right temporoparietal region and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. These results suggested that the observed alterations may be related to trait clinical and neurophysiological characteristics of MDD and may present before the onset of illness. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

A longitudinal study of lateral ventricle volumes in deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia

Although it is generally accepted that negative symptoms of schizophrenia are associated with larger lateral ventricles, this general assumption could not be validated in patients with primary negative symptoms. To elucidate this issue, we conducted a five-year longitudinal study, including deficit (n = 13) and non-deficit (n = 26) schizophrenia patients with healthy controls (n = 18). Analysis with linear mixed effects modeling showed that both the left and the right lateral ventricles of the deficit patients enlarged more than the non-deficit patients. Our results suggest that structural alterations in deficit patients might follow a different trajectory than those in non-deficit patients

Brain areas associated with resilience to depression in high-risk young women

Previous structural brain-imaging studies in first-degree relatives of depressed patients showed alterations that are generally accepted as vulnerability markers for depression. However, only half of the relatives had depression at follow-up, while the other half did not. The aim of this study was to identify the brain areas associated with resilience to depression in high-risk subjects with familial depression. We recruited 59 young women with a history of depressed mothers. Twenty-nine of them (high-risk group [HRG]) had no depression history, while 30 (depressive group) had at least 1 depressive episode in adolescence. The brain structures of the groups were compared through voxel-based morphometry and analysis of cortical thickness. Individual amygdala nuclei and hippocampal subfield volumes were measured. The analysis showed larger amygdala volume, thicker subcallosal cortex and bilateral insula in the women in the HRG compared with those in the depressive group. In addition, we detected more gray matter in the left temporal pole in the HRG. The larger gray matter volume and increased cortical thickness in the key hub regions of the salience network (amygdala and insula) and structurally connected regions in the limbic network (subcallosal area and temporal pole) might prevent women in the HRG from converting to depression

The negative association between amygdala volume and harm avoidance trait in healthy young women with a history of familial depression

Burhanoglu, Birce Begum/0000-0002-0350-041XWOS: 000528851200048PubMed: 31896430[No abstract available]Scientific and Technological Research Council of TurkeyTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [109S134]This work was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Project Number 109S134)

The relationship between the anterior corpus callosum size and prefrontal cortex volume in drug-free depressed patients

WOS: 000316156000018PubMed ID: 22884010Introduction: An evolving literature suggests a volume reduction and a loss of functional integrity of prefrontal cortex in depressed patients. Interhemispheric prefrontal functional integrity is mediated via the anterior portion of the corpus callosum. Until recently interhemispheric fibers connecting prefrontal cortex have not been well defined. In this study, we compared the corpus callosum area of depressed patients with controls using a novel schema proposed by Hofer and Frahm (2006) which defined a specific anterior callosal area for prefrontal interhemispheric fibers. We further investigated the correlation between callosal area and prefrontal cortical volume. Methods: Thirty-six patients with major depressive disorder and thirty-three healthy controls were recruited. All subjects were psychotropic medication-free and right-handed. The imaging was performed on a 1.5 T MR unit (Magnetom Vision Siemens). The images obtained from 3D MP-RAGE sequence were used for analyses. Medical Image Processing, Analyzing and Visualization (MIPAV) software was used for callosal and prefrontal measurements. Results: Depressed patients had reduced prefrontal cortical volume and a loss of the normal callosal/gray matter correlation, but normal white matter volume and normal callosal areas. Limitations: It is not known if the observed changes were preexisting or acquired. Conclusion: Our results indicate that the normal structural relationship between anterior callosal area and prefrontal cortical volume is disrupted in major depressive disorder and that the disruption is due to reduced cortical volume rather than to changes in interhemispheric connections. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Ihsan Dogramaci Foundation; Huray Fidaner Research Award of the Izmir Psychiatric AssociationThis study is a part of SoCAT Project supported by the Ihsan Dogramaci Foundation and was partially supported by Huray Fidaner Research Award of the Izmir Psychiatric Association to corresponding author (ASG)

Small Frontal Gray Matter Volume in First-Episode Depression Patients

WOS: 000281709900001PubMed ID: 20818506Objective: Brain imaging studies have shown that depressed individuals suffer from inadequate frontal lobefunctions vis a vis smaller frontal lobes. The effects of depression's recurrent nature and long-term antidepressant treatment are not definitely known. This study aimed to examine frontal lobe volume at the onset of clinical depression by including first-episode drug-naive depressed patients. Method: The study included 23 first-episode drug-free major depression patients diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) and 28 healthy age- and sex-matched controls. Cranial magnetic resonance (MR) images were obtained in both groups using a 1.5 Tesla device. Gray and white matter volumes in the frontal lobes were measured using the Medical Image Processing Analysis and Visualization (MIPAV) computer program. Results: Frontal gray matter volume in the patients was lower than that in the control group. White matter and total intracranial volume did not differ between the 2 groups. Small gray matter volume was not correlated with the duration or severity of illness. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that frontal lobe gray matter volume is low in first-episode depressed patients and is independent of both illness severity and duration. This result suggests that the observed changes in the frontal lobe could have occurred before the clinical symptoms of depression were observed