title: Dentate gyrus volume and memory performance in major depressive disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has shown lower hippocampal volume in major depressive disorder (MDD). Patients with MDD have consistently demonstrated worse performance than healthy controls a number of memory tests. Memory functions within the hippocampus in healthy younger subjects appear to be linked to cornu ammonis (CA1-3) and dentate gyrus (DG) subfields. Therefore, the main goal of the present study was to investigate whether memory deficits in MDD patients are related to reduction in hippocampal subfields volumes, particularly DG and CA 1-3.
  
  
  METHODS
  15 MDD patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for MDD with moderate or severe episodes were recruited, together with 15 healthy controls. We used T2-weighted 2D Fast Spin Echo (FSE) and T1-weighted 3D MPRAGE sequences at 4.7 T to compare hippocampal subfield volumes at 0.09 μl voxel volume. Participants were administered the Wechsler Memory Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MDD patients underperformed in several episodic visual memory tasks, as well as in visual working memory, compared to healthy controls. Global hippocampal volumes were similar between groups; however, MDD patients showed significantly reduced DG volumes within the hippocampal body. Duration of depression correlated with MDD patients׳ total volumes in the hippocampal body and CA1-3 and DG subfields within it.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study sample was relatively small and the majority of patients were on antidepressant treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that DG volumes in particular may be worthy of further study to further elucidate their precise role in MDD, both by itself as well as in relation to memory.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neuroscience, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Travis
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Coupland
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Peter H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Silversone
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Yushan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Rawle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Seres
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neuroscience, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address: nikolai@ualberta.ca.
authors.forename: Nikolai V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Malykhin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000473:pathology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009929:Organ Size; D018401:Sample Size; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents
keywords: Antidepressant treatment; Cornu ammonis; Dentate gyrus; Hippocampus; Major depressive disorder; Memory