Anatomical and functional correlates in major depressive disorder: The contribution of neuroimaging studies

Several studies suggested the neural networks modulating aspects of emotional behaviour to be implicated in the pathophysiology of mood disorders. These networks involve the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and closely related areas in the medial and caudolateral orbital cortex (medial prefrontal net...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The world journal of biological psychiatry 2010-03, Vol.11 (2_2), p.165-180
Main Authors: Rigucci, Silvia, Serafini, Gianluca, Pompili, Maurizio, Kotzalidis, Giorgio D., Tatarelli, Roberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
antidepressants
Antidepressive Agents - pharmacology
Brain - drug effects
Brain - pathology
Brain - physiopathology
brain imaging
Depressive Disorder, Major - drug therapy
Depressive Disorder, Major - pathology
Depressive Disorder, Major - physiopathology
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Major depressive disorder
Mood Disorders - pathology
Mood Disorders - physiopathology
PET
Positron-Emission Tomography
SPECT
Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Several studies suggested the neural networks modulating aspects of emotional behaviour to be implicated in the pathophysiology of mood disorders. These networks involve the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and closely related areas in the medial and caudolateral orbital cortex (medial prefrontal network), amygdala, hippocampus, and ventromedial parts of the basal ganglia, where alterations in grey matter volume and neurophysiological activity are found in cases with recurrent depressive episodes. Such findings hold major implications for models of the neurocircuits that underlie depression. In particular, evidence from lesion analysis studies suggests that MPFC and related limbic and striato-pallido-thalamic structures organize emotional expression. The aim of this paper is to review the contribution of the most relevant studies with single photon emission tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to the understanding of pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD), with particular focus on the reversibility of functional correlates with treatment.
ISSN:1562-2975
1814-1412
DOI:10.3109/15622970903131571