title: Functional and structural brain correlates of risk for major depression in children with familial depression.
abstract: Despite growing evidence for atypical amygdala function and structure in major depression, it remains uncertain as to whether these brain differences reflect the clinical state of depression or neurobiological traits that predispose individuals to major depression. We examined function and structure of the amygdala and associated areas in a group of unaffected children of depressed parents (at-risk group) and a group of children of parents without a history of major depression (control group). Compared to the control group, the at-risk group showed increased activation to fearful relative to neutral facial expressions in the amygdala and multiple cortical regions, and decreased activation to happy relative to neutral facial expressions in the anterior cingulate cortex and supramarginal gyrus. At-risk children also exhibited reduced amygdala volume. The extensive hyperactivation to negative facial expressions and hypoactivation to positive facial expressions in at-risk children are consistent with behavioral evidence that risk for major depression involves a bias to attend to negative information. These functional and structural brain differences between at-risk children and controls suggest that there are trait neurobiological underpinnings of risk for major depression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; Poitras Center for Affective Disorders Research at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaoqian J
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Dina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hirshfeld-Becker
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA ; Clinical and Research Program in Pediatric Psychopharmacology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Biederman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA ; Clinical and Research Program in Pediatric Psychopharmacology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Mai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; Poitras Center for Affective Disorders Research at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Doehrmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; Poitras Center for Affective Disorders Research at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Julia A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Leonard
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; Poitras Center for Affective Disorders Research at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Salvatore
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA ; Clinical and Research Program in Pediatric Psychopharmacology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kenworthy
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA ; Clinical and Research Program in Pediatric Psychopharmacology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Ariel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA ; Clinical and Research Program in Pediatric Psychopharmacology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Elana
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kagan
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; Poitras Center for Affective Disorders Research at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Los Angeles
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; Poitras Center for Affective Disorders Research at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Whitfield-Gabrieli
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; Poitras Center for Affective Disorders Research at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: John D E
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Gabrieli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012306:Risk
keywords: Amygdala volume; Children; Emotional faces; Familial risk; Major depression; fMRI