title: Suicidality and brain volumes in pediatric epilepsy.
abstract: This study examined the relationship between suicidal ideation and frontotemporal volumes, particularly orbital frontal gyrus volume, in 51 subjects with epilepsy with a mean age of 9.8 (2.1) years. Structured psychiatric interviews of the children and parents provided information on suicidal behavior and DSM-IV diagnoses. Tissue of 1.5-T MRI scans was segmented, and total brain, frontal lobe, frontal parcellations, and temporal lobe volumes were computed. The 11 subjects with epilepsy with suicidal ideation had significantly smaller right orbital frontal gyrus white matter volumes and larger left temporal lobe gray matter volumes than the 40 children without suicidal thoughts. Given the role of the orbital frontal gyrus in both emotional regulation and epilepsy, these findings highlight the biological underpinnings of suicidal ideation in pediatric epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. rcaplan@ucla.edu
authors.forename: Rochelle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Caplan
authors.forename: Prabha
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Siddarth
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Levitt
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gurbani
authors.forename: W Donald
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Shields
authors.forename: Raman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sankar
mesh_terms: D001526:Behavioral Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*