Depressive symptoms and brain volumes in older adults: a longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging study

Background Late-life depression is associated with decreased brain volumes, particularly in frontal and temporal areas. Evidence suggests that depressive symptoms at a subclinical level are also associated with brain atrophy in these regions, but most of these associations are based on cross-section...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience 2009-09, Vol.34 (5), p.367-375
Main Authors: Dotson, Vonetta M., PhD, Davatzikos, Christos, PhD, Kraut, Michael A., MD, PhD, Resnick, Susan M., PhD
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Antidepressive Agents - therapeutic use
Brain - pathology
Brain mapping
Brain research
Depression - drug therapy
Depression - pathology
Depression, Mental
Diagnosis
Female
Frontal Lobe - pathology
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Medical Education
Mental depression
Middle Aged
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Older people
Organ Size
Psychiatry
Psychological Tests
Regression Analysis
Research Paper
Sex Characteristics
Temporal Lobe - pathology
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Summary:Background Late-life depression is associated with decreased brain volumes, particularly in frontal and temporal areas. Evidence suggests that depressive symptoms at a subclinical level are also associated with brain atrophy in these regions, but most of these associations are based on cross-sectional data. Our objective was to investigate both cross-sectional and longitudinal relations between subthreshold depressive symptoms and brain volumes in older adults and to examine whether these associations are modified by age. Methods In total, 110 dementia-free adults from the neuroimaging substudy of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging aged 56 years and older at baseline participated in this study. Participants received annual evaluations for up to 9 years, during which structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were acquired and depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Results Mean depressive symptom scores over time were associated with grey matter volume reductions in the left temporal lobe. Depressive symptoms were associated with brain volume reductions with advancing age in the cingulate gyrus and orbitofrontal cortex. Moreover, individuals with higher mean depressive symptom scores showed a faster rate of volume decline in left frontal white matter. Depressive symptoms were not associated with hippocampus volumes. Limitations Limitations include the relative homogeneity of our primarily white and highly educated sample, the lack of information about age at onset of depressive symptoms and potential limitations of the automated brain volume registration. Conclusion Our results suggest that depressive symptoms, even at a subthreshold level, are associated with volume reductions in specific frontal and temporal brain regions, particularly with advancing age.
ISSN:1180-4882
1488-2434