Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x24gv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-04T06:02:36.330Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reduced grey matter volume in frontal and temporal areas in depression: contributions from voxel-based morphometry study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2019

Sevdalina Kandilarova ,
Drozdstoy Stoyanov ,
Nickolay Sirakov ,
Michael Maes Open the ORCID record for Michael Maes [Opens in a new window]  and
Karsten Specht
Sevdalina Kandilarova
Affiliation:
Research Complex for Translational Neuroscience, Medical University of Plovdiv (MUP), Plovdiv, Bulgaria Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, MUP, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Drozdstoy Stoyanov
Affiliation:
Research Complex for Translational Neuroscience, Medical University of Plovdiv (MUP), Plovdiv, Bulgaria Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, MUP, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Nickolay Sirakov
Affiliation:
Research Complex for Translational Neuroscience, Medical University of Plovdiv (MUP), Plovdiv, Bulgaria Department of Image Diagnostics, Dental Allergology and Physiotherapy, MUP, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Michael Maes*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, MUP, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Karsten Specht
Affiliation:
Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway Department of Education, UiT/The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
*
Author for correspondence: Michael Maes, Email: dr.michaelmaes@hotmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

The aim of the current study was to examine whether and to what extent mood disorders, comprising major depression and bipolar disorder, are accompanied by structural changes in the brain as measured using voxel-based morphometry (VBM).

Methods:

We performed a VBM study using a 3Т MRI system (GE Discovery 750w) in patients with mood disorders (n=50), namely, 39 with major depression and 11 with bipolar disorder compared to 42 age-, sex- and education-matched healthy controls.

Results:

Our results show that depression was associated with significant decreases in grey matter (GM) volume of the regions located within the medial frontal and anterior cingulate cortex on the left side and middle frontal gyrus, medial orbital gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus (triangular and orbital parts) and middle temporal gyrus (extending to the superior temporal gyrus) on the right side. When the patient group was separated into bipolar disorder and major depression, the reductions remained significant only for patients with major depressive disorder.

Conclusions:

Using VBM the present study was able to replicate decreases in GM volume restricted to frontal and temporal regions in patients with mood disorders, mainly major depression, compared with healthy controls.

Keywords

major depressive disorderbipolar disorderstructural MRIgrey matter volumevoxel-based morphometry
Type
Original Article
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 31 , Issue 5 , October 2019 , pp. 252 - 257
Copyright
© Scandinavian College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Angst, J and Gamma, A (2002) A new bipolar spectrum concept: a brief review. Bipolar Disorder 4(Suppl1), 11–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arnone, D, Job, D, Selvaraj, S, Abe, O, Amico, F, Cheng, Y, et al. (2016) Computational meta-analysis of statistical parametric maps in major depression. Human Brain Mapping 37(4), 1393–1404.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arnone, D, McIntosh, AM, Ebmeier, KP, Munafo, MR, and Anderson, IM (2012) Magnetic resonance imaging studies in unipolar depression: systematic review and meta-regression analyses. European Neuropsychopharmacology 22(1), 1–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ballmaier, M, Toga, AW, Blanton, RE, Sowell, ER, Lavretsky, H, Peterson, J, et al. (2004) Anterior cingulate, gyrus rectus, and orbitofrontal abnormalities in elderly depressed patients: an MRI-based parcellation of the prefrontal cortex. American Journal of Psychiatry 161(1), 99–108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bora, E, Fornito, A, Yucel, M, and Pantelis, C (2010) Voxelwise meta-analysis of gray matter abnormalities in bipolar disorder. Biological Psychiatry 67(11), 1097–1105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brambilla, P, Nicoletti, MA, Harenski, K, Sassi, RB, Mallinger, AG, Frank, E, et al. (2002) Anatomical MRI study of subgenual prefrontal cortex in bipolar and unipolar subjects. Neuropsychopharmacology 27(5), 792–799.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bremner, JD, Vythilingam, M, Vermetten, E, Nazeer, A, Adil, J, Khan, S, et al. (2002) Reduced volume of orbitofrontal cortex in major depression. Biological Psychiatry 51(4), 273–279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bush, G, Luu, P, and Posner, MI (2000) Cognitive and emotional influences in anterior cingulate cortex. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 4(6), 215–222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caetano, SC, Kaur, S, Brambilla, P, Nicoletti, S, Hatch, JPSassi, RB, et al. (2006) Smaller cingulate volumes in unipolar depressed patients. Biological Psychiatry 59(8), 702–706.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cai, Y, Liu, J, Zhang, L, Wang, L, et al. (2015) Grey matter volume abnormalities in patients with bipolar I depressive disorder and unipolar depressive disorder: a voxel-based morphometry study. Neuroscience Bulletin 31(1), 4–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, L, Wang, Y, Niu, C, Zhong, S, Hu, H, Chen, P, et al. (2018) Common and distinct abnormal frontal-limbic system structural and functional patterns in patients with major depression and bipolar disorder. NeuroImage: Clinical 20, 42–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coryell, W, Nopoulos, P, Drevets, W, Wilson, T, and Andreasen, NC (2005) Subgenual prefrontal cortex volumes in major depressive disorder and schizophrenia: diagnostic specificity and prognostic implications. American Journal of Psychiatry 162(9), 1706–1712.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davey, CG, Harrison, BJ, Yucel, M, and Allen, NB (2012) Regionally specific alterations in functional connectivity of the anterior cingulate cortex in major depressive disorder. Psychological Medicine 42(10), 2071–2081.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Delaveau, P, Jabourian, M, Lemogne, C, Guionnet, S, Bergouignan, L, and Fossati, P (2011) Brain effects of antidepressants in major depression: a meta-analysis of emotional processing studies. Journal of Affective Disorders 130(1–2), 66–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drevets, WC (2007) Orbitofrontal cortex function and structure in depression. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1121, 499–527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drevets, WC, Price, JL, and Furey, ML (2008) Brain structural and functional abnormalities in mood disorders: implications for neurocircuitry models of depression. Brain Structure and Function 213(1–2), 93–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ghaemi, SN (2013) Bipolar spectrum: a review of the concept and a vision for the future. Psychiatry Investigation 10(3), 218–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Groenewold, NA, Opmeer, EM, de Jonge, P, Aleman, A, and Costafreda, SG (2013) Emotional valence modulates brain functional abnormalities in depression: evidence from a meta-analysis of fMRI studies. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 37(2), 152–163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hajek, T, Kozeny, J, Kopecek, M, Alda, M, and Hoschl, C (2008) Reduced subgenual cingulate volumes in mood disorders: a meta-analysis. Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience 33(2), 91–99.Google ScholarPubMed
Haralanov, S, Haralanova, E, Terziivanova, P, Moeller, H-J, and Hennig-Fast, K (2015) Subjective emotional over-arousal to neutral social scenes in paranoid schizophrenia psychosis is significantly reduced by effective antipsychotic pharmacotherapy. American Journal of Psychology and Cognitive Science 1(2), 48–60.Google Scholar
Haralanov, S and Terziivanova, P (2011) Subclinical bipolarity in unipolar depression: objective revealing by computerized ultrasonographic cranio-corpo-graphy. Bulgarian Medicine 1(3), 12.Google Scholar
Jackowski, AP, Araujo Filho, GM, Almeida, AGD, Araújo, CMD, Reis, M, Nery, F, Batista, IR, et al. (2012) The involvement of the orbitofrontal cortex in psychiatric disorders: an update of neuroimaging findings. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria 34(2), 207–212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jaworska, N, Yang, XR, Knott, V, and MacQueen, G (2015) A review of fMRI studies during visual emotive processing in major depressive disorder. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry 16(7), 448–471.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kempton, MJ, Salvador, Z, Munafò, MR, Geddes, JR, Simmons, A, Frangou, S, et al. (2011) Structural neuroimaging studies in major depressive disorder. Meta-analysis and comparison with bipolar disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry 68(7), 675–690.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koolschijn, PC, van Haren, NE, Lensvelt-Mulders, GJ, Hulshoff Pol, HE, and Kahn, RS (2009) Brain volume abnormalities in major depressive disorder: a meta-analysis of magnetic resonance imaging studies. Human Brain Mapping 30(11), 3719–3735.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kringelbach, ML and Rolls, ET (2004) The functional neuroanatomy of the human orbitofrontal cortex: evidence from neuroimaging and neuropsychology. Progress in Neurobiology 72(5), 341–372.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lai, CH (2013) Gray matter volume in major depressive disorder: a meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies. Psychiatry Research 211(1), 37–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lai, CH and Wu, YT (2014) Frontal-insula gray matter deficits in first-episode medication-naive patients with major depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders 160, 74–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maes, M, Bonifacio, KL, Morelli, NR, Vargas, HO, Barbosa, DS, Carvalho, AF, et al. (2019) Major differences in neurooxidative and neuronitrosative stress pathways between major depressive disorder and types I and II bipolar disorder. Molecular Neurobiology 56(1), 141–156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maes, M, Yirmyia, R, Noraberg, J, Brene, S, Brene, S, Hibbeln, J, Perini, G, et al. (2009) The inflammatory & neurodegenerative (I&ND) hypothesis of depression: leads for future research and new drug developments in depression. Metabolic Brain Disease 24(1), 27–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mazza, M, Mandelli, L, Zaninotto, L, Nicola, MD, Martinotti, G, Harnic, D, et al. (2011) Factors associated with the course of symptoms in bipolar disorder during a 1-year follow-up: depression vs. sub-threshold mixed state. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry 65(6), 419–426.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCabe, C, Cowen, PJ, and Harmer, CJ (2009) Neural representation of reward in recovered depressed patients. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 205(4), 667–677.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCabe, C, Woffindale, C, Harmer, CJ, and Cowen, PJ (2012) Neural processing of reward and punishment in young people at increased familial risk of depression. Biological Psychiatry 72(7), 588–594.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDonald, C, Zanelli, J, Rabe-Hesketh, S, Ellison-Wright, I, Sham, P, Kalidindi, S, et al. (2004) Meta-analysis of magnetic resonance imaging brain morphometry studies in bipolar disorder. Biological Psychiatry 56(6), 411–417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Montgomery, SA and Asberg, M (1979) A new depression scale designed to be sensitive to change. The British Journal of Psychiatry 134, 382–389.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peng, H, Wu, K, Li, J, Qi, H, Guo, S, Chi, M, et al. (2014) Increased suicide attempts in young depressed patients with abnormal temporal-parietal-limbic gray matter volume. Journal of Affective Disorders 165, 69–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perlis, RH, Uher, R, Ostacher, M, Goldberg, JF, Trivedi, MH, Rush, AJ, et al. (2011) Association between bipolar spectrum features and treatment outcomes in outpatients with major depressive disorder. Archives Of General Psychiatry 68(4), 351–360.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Redlich, R, Almeida, JJ, Grotegerd, D, Opel, N, Kugel, H, Heindel, W, et al. (2014) Brain morphometric biomarkers distinguishing unipolar and bipolar depression. A voxel-based morphometry-pattern classification approach. JAMA Psychiatry 71(11), 1222–1230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sacher, J, Neumann, J, Funfstuck, T, Soliman, A, Villringer, A, and Schroeter, ML (2012) Mapping the depressed brain: a meta-analysis of structural and functional alterations in major depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders 140(2), 142–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salvadore, G, Cornwell, BR, Colon-Rosario, V, Coppola, R, Grillon, C, Zarate, CA Jr, et al. (2009) Increased anterior cingulate cortical activity in response to fearful faces: a neurophysiological biomarker that predicts rapid antidepressant response to ketamine. Biological Psychiatry 65(4), 289–295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sartorius, N (2001) The economic and social burden of depression. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 62(Suppl15), 8–11.Google Scholar
Scherk, H, Kemmer, C, Usher, J, Reith, W, Falkai, P, and Gruber, O (2008) No change to grey and white matter volumes in bipolar I disorder patients. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 258(6), 345–349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmaal, L, Hibar, DP, Sämann, PG, Hall, GB, Baune, BT, Jahanshad, N, et al. (2017) Cortical abnormalities in adults and adolescents with major depression based on brain scans from 20 cohorts worldwide in the ENIGMA Major Depressive Disorder Working Group. Mol Psychiatry 22(6), 900–909.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Selvaraj, S, Arnone, D, Job, D, Stanfield, A, Farrow, TF, Nugent, AC, et al. (2012) Grey matter differences in bipolar disorder: a meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies. Bipolar Disorder 14(2), 135–145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sheehan, DV, Lecrubier, Y, Sheehan, KH, Amorim, P, Janavs, J, Weiller, E, et al. (1998) The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.): the development and validation of a structured diagnostic psychiatric interview for DSM-IV and ICD-10. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 59(Suppl20), 22–33;quiz 34–57.Google ScholarPubMed
Tang, Y, Wang, F, Xie, G, et al. (2007) Reduced ventral anterior cingulate and amygdala volumes in medication-naive females with major depressive disorder: a voxel-based morphometric magnetic resonance imaging study. Psychiatry Research 156(1), 83–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ubl, B, Kuehner, C, Kirsch, P, Ruttorf, M, Diener, C, and Flor, H (2015) Altered neural reward and loss processing and prediction error signalling in depression. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 10(8), 1102–1112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, YL, Yang, SZ, Sun, WL, Shi, YZ, and Duan, HF (2016) Altered functional interaction hub between affective network and cognitive control network in patients with major depressive disorder. Behavioural Brain Research 298(Pt B), 301–309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhao, YJ, Du, MY, Huang, XQ, Lui, S, Chen, ZQ, Liu, J, et al. (2014) Brain grey matter abnormalities in medication-free patients with major depressive disorder: a meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine 44(14), 2927–2937.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed