title: Amygdala volume marks the acute state in the early course of depression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The amygdala and hippocampus play a key role in the neural circuitry mediating depression. It remains unclear how much structural and functional changes of amygdala and hippocampus reflect the acute state of depression or an underlying neurobiological trait marker of depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  High-resolution anatomical images were acquired in 20 medication-naïve major depressive disorder (MDD) patients with a current first episode, 20 medication-free patients recovered from a first episode of MDD, and 20 healthy control subjects that were matched for age, gender, and level of education. Manual volumetry of amygdala and hippocampus was performed on coronal images. Volumetric measurements of brain volume and intracranial volume were acquired with automatic segmentation procedures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both amygdalae were significantly enlarged in currently depressed patients, whereas there was no significant difference between recovered patients and control subjects. The amygdala enlargement correlated positively with the severity of depressive state but with no other clinical or neuropsychological variable. The hippocampal volume did not differ between groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A state related increase of amygdala volume can be detected early in the course of MDD. Neurotoxic effects might account for the fact that state-related amygdala enlargement has not been found in recurrent depression with relative long illness duration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. P.vanEijndhoven@psy.umcn.nl
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van Eijndhoven
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van Wingen
authors.forename: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: van Oijen
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rijpkema
authors.forename: Bozena
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Goraj
authors.forename: Robbert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jan Verkes
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Oude Voshaar
authors.forename: Guillén
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Buitelaar
authors.forename: Indira
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tendolkar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D012720:Severity of Illness Index