Hippocampal and anterior cingulate activation deficits in patients with geriatric depression.
OBJECTIVE
The authors assessed frontotemporal function in patients with geriatric depression, a debilitating and increasingly prevalent disorder that has not been examined with brain activation paradigms.


METHODS
Six depressed elderly patients and five healthy comparison subjects underwent high-sensitivity [(15)O]H(2)O positron emission tomography scans during a paced word generation task and a resting condition.


RESULTS
Bilateral activation deficits were noted in the dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus and hippocampus of the depressed geriatric patients relative to the comparison subjects. Patients had memory deficits that correlated with lower hippocampal activity during both rest and activation.


CONCLUSIONS
These initial findings suggest that hippocampal and dorsal anterior cingulate hypoactivation may constitute contributing neural substrates of geriatric depression. They also suggest that hippocampal dysfunction is related to the memory dysfunction characteristic of this disorder.
de Asis
J M
JM
Department of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 525 East 68th St., New York, NY 10021, USA.
Stern
E
E
Alexopoulos
G S
GS
Pan
H
H
Van Gorp
W
W
Blumberg
H
H
Kalayam
B
B
Eidelberg
D
D
Kiosses
D
D
Silbersweig
D A
DA
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010104:Oxygen Radioisotopes; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D010104:Oxygen Radioisotopes