Enlargement of the amygdala in patients with a first episode of major depression.
BACKGROUND
The amygdala plays a crucial role in the mediation of affective behavior in humans and is implemented in the limbic-thalamic-cortical network that is supposed to modulate human mood. The aim of the present study was to measure the amygdala volumes in patients with a first episode of major depression.


METHODS
Thirty inpatients with a first episode of depression were compared with 30 healthy volunteers matched for age, gender, handedness, and education by performing structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of the amygdala.


RESULTS
Patients showed increased amygdala volumes in both hemispheres as compared to healthy control subjects. No significant correlations were found between amygdala volumes and age, age of onset, illness duration, or severity of depression in the patient group.


CONCLUSIONS
Enlarged amygdala volumes in patients with a first episode of major depression might be due to enhanced blood flow in the amygdala rather than to a neurodevelopmental structural predisposition to major depression.
Frodl
Thomas
T
Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
Meisenzahl
Eva
E
Zetzsche
Thomas
T
Bottlender
Ronald
R
Born
Christine
C
Groll
Constanze
C
Jäger
Markus
M
Leinsinger
Gerda
G
Hahn
Klaus
K
Möller
Hans-Jürgen
HJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales