Amygdala enlargement in dysthymia—a volumetric study of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy

• Published in: Biological psychiatry (1969) 1999-12, Vol.46 (12), p.1614-1623
• Main Authors: Tebartz van Elst, Ludger, Woermann, Friedrich G, Lemieux, Louis, Trimble, Michael R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aggression; Amygdala; Amygdala - pathology; Analysis of Variance; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; depression; Depression - pathology; Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders - etiology; Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders - pathology; Dominance, Cerebral; dysthymia; Dysthymic Disorder - complications; Dysthymic Disorder - pathology; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe - complications; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe - pathology; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Mood disorders; MRI; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; temporal lobe epilepsy; volumetry
• ISSN: 0006-3223; 1873-2402
• DOI: 10.1016/S0006-3223(99)00212-7

Background: Previous studies indicated an important role of the amygdala for emotional information processing. We investigated a possible relationship between amygdala volumes, aggressive behavior, and dysthymia, in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Methods: Patients with TLE with and without aggression or dysthymia and healthy volunteers were assessed using quantitative MRI. Amygdala volumes were measured in a blinded fashion and corrected for total brain volumes. Results: There was a highly significant enlargement of left and right amygdala volumes in patients with dysthymia (right side, p < .000; left side, p = .001). We found a significant positive correlation between left amygdala volumes ( p = .02) and a trend towards positive correlation between right amygdala volumes and depression ( p = .06), as measured with the Beck Depression Inventory. Amygdala volumes of females were significantly larger than those of males (left side: p = .005; right side: p = .06). Conclusions: This is the second report of a relationship between amygdala volumes and depressed mood, confirming an earlier finding in patients with bipolar disease, and the first study reporting a correlation between amygdala volumes and depression. Increased processing of emotional information might increase amygdala blood flow and subsequently, result in amygdala enlargement.