Cortical thickness, cortical and subcortical volume, and white matter integrity in patients with their first episode of major depression

Kyu Man Han, Sunyoung Choi, Jeyoung Jung, Kyoung Sae Na, Ho Kyoung Yoon, Min Soo Lee, Byung Joo Ham

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

85 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background The uncertainty over the true morphological changes in brains with major depressive disorder (MDD) underlines the necessity of comprehensive studies with multimodal structural brain imaging analyses. This study aimed to evaluate the differences in cortical thickness, cortical and subcortical volume, and white matter integrity between first episode, medication-naïve MDD patients and healthy controls. Methods Subjects with their first episode of MDD whose illness duration had not exceeded 6 months (n=20) were enrolled in this study and were compared to age-, sex-, and education level-matched healthy controls (n=22). All participants were subjected to T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We used an automated procedure of FreeSurfer and Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to analyze differences in cortical thickness, cortical and subcortical volume, and white matter integrity between two groups. Results The patients with first episode MDD exhibited significantly reduced cortical volume in the caudal anterior cingulate gyrus (P<0.0015) compared to healthy controls. We also observed altered white matter integrity in the body of the corpus callosum (P<0.01), reduced cortical volume of the caudal middle frontal gyrus and medial orbitofrontal gyrus, and enlarged hippocampal volume in the first episode MDD patients. Limitations We relied on a relatively small sample size and cortical volume reduction in several brain regions was not replicated in the analysis of cortical thickness. Conclusions Using multimodal imaging analyses on medication-naïve first episode MDD patients, we demonstrated fundamental structural alteration of brain gray and white matter, such as reduced cortical volume of the caudal ACC and white matter integrity in the body of the corpus callosum.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)42-48
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Affective Disorders
Volume155
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014 Feb

Keywords

  • Cortical thickness
  • Cortical volume
  • Depression
  • First episode
  • Medication-naïve
  • Subcortical volume

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Cortical thickness, cortical and subcortical volume, and white matter integrity in patients with their first episode of major depression'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this