Hippocampal Atrophy in Recurrent Major Depression

Hippocampal volumes of subjects with a history of major depressive episodes but currently in remission and with no known medical comorbidity were compared to matched normal controls by using volumetric magnetic resonance images. Subjects with a history of major depression had significantly smaller l...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1996-04, Vol.93 (9), p.3908-3913
Main Authors: Sheline, Yvette I., Wang, Po W., Gado, Mokhtar H., Csernansky, John G., Vannier, Michael W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Anatomy
Atrophy
Brain
Brain - pathology
Depressive Disorder - blood
Depressive Disorder - pathology
Depressive disorders
Electroconvulsive therapy
Female
Gray matter
Hippocampus
Hippocampus - pathology
Humans
Hydrocortisone - blood
Magnetic resonance
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Major depressive disorder
Medical research
Mental depression
Middle Aged
Patient medical history
Patient Selection
Recurrence
Reference Values
Socioeconomic Factors
White matter
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Hippocampal volumes of subjects with a history of major depressive episodes but currently in remission and with no known medical comorbidity were compared to matched normal controls by using volumetric magnetic resonance images. Subjects with a history of major depression had significantly smaller left and right hippocampal volumes with no differences in total cerebral volumes. The degree of hippocampal volume reduction correlated with total duration of major depression. In addition, large (diameter ≥ 4.5 mm)-hippocampal low signal foci (LSF) were found within the hippocampus, and their number also correlated with the total number of days depressed. These results suggest that depression is associated with hippocampal atrophy, perhaps due to a progressive process mediated by glucocorticoid neurotoxicity.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.93.9.3908