title: Reduced thalamic volumes in major depressive disorder.
abstract: Altered function in the limbic-cortical-striatial-pallidal-thalamic (LCSPT) circuit has been implicated in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). This study evaluated volumetric differences in subcortical volumes between depressed subjects with MDD (N=142), subjects with MDD in remission (N=72), and healthy controls (N=169). Participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning, and subcortical volumes were extracted using FMRIB's Integrated Registration and Segmentation Tool (FIRST), University of Oxford, UK. The depressed MDD subjects exhibited significantly smaller volumes in the bilateral thalamus and hippocampus compared to control subjects, and the differences in the bilateral thalamus remained significant after controlling for total intracranial volume. In a smaller subset of healthy controls and depressed MDD subjects matched to the remitted MDD subjects, significant differences in volume were observed across groups in the bilateral thalamus, as well as the right lateralized caudate, hippocampus, and pallidum; these were primarily accounted for by differences between the depressed MDD subjects versus both the remitted and healthy subjects, though none of these changes remained significant after controlling for total intracranial volume (TIV). Volumetric reductions in the thalamus and hippocampus may contribute to dysfunction within subcortical-cortical networks, consistent with previous evidence of metabolic and hemodynamic abnormalities in these regions in MDD.
authors.affiliation: Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. nugenta@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: Allison Carol
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Nugent
authors.forename: Rebecca Marie
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Carlos Alberto
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Zarate
authors.forename: Wayne Curtis
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Drevets
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013788:Thalamus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents
keywords: Depression; Magnetic resonance imaging; Morphometry