MK4MDD

Genetic/Epigenetic Locus Search Cross Data Search

Study Report

Reference

Citation	Vasic, 2008 PubMed
Full Info	Vasic, N., Walter, H., Hose, A. and Wolf, R.C. (2008) Gray matter reduction associated with psychopathology and cognitive dysfunction in unipolar depression: a voxel-based morphometry study. J Affect Disord, 109, 107-116.

Study

Hypothesis or Background	Functional neuroimaging studies on both cognitive processing and psychopathology in patients with major depression have reported several functionally aberrant brain areas within limbic-cortical circuits. However, less is known about the relationship between psychopathology, cognitive deficits and regional volume alterations in this patient population.
Sample Information	15 patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for major depression disorder and 14 healthy controls
Method Detail	By means of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and a standardized neuropsychological test battery, we examined 15 patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for major depression disorder and 14 healthy controls in order to investigate the relationship between affective symptoms, cognitive deficits and structural abnormalities.
Method Keywords	neuropsychological test; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Result	Patients with depression showed reduced gray matter concentration (GMC) in the left inferior temporal cortex (BA 20), the right orbitofrontal (BA 11) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA 46). Reduced gray matter volume (GMV) was found in the left hippocampal gyrus, the cingulate gyrus (BA 24/32) and the thalamus. Structure-cognition correlation analyses revealed that decreased GMC of the right medial and inferior frontal gyrus was associated with both depressive psychopathology and worse executive performance as measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Furthermore, depressive psychopathology and worse performance during the WCST were associated with decreased GMV of the hippocampus. Decreased GMV of the cingulate cortex was associated with worse executive performance.
Conclusions	The volumetric results indicate that regional abnormalities in gray matter volume and concentration may be associated with both psychopathological changes and cognitive deficits in depression.
Remark	LIMITATIONS: Moderate illness severity, medication effects, and the relatively small patient sample size should be taken into consideration when reviewing the implications of these results.

Relationships reported by Vasic, 2008

Component A Approved Name (Name in Paper)	Component A Type	Component B Approved Name (Name in Paper)	Component B Type	Statistical Result	Relationship Description	Result Category (Positive/Negative))
Depressed mood (depressive psychopathology)	symptoms	right medial frontal gyrus (right medial frontal gyrus)	brain morphology and function		Structure-cognition correlation analyses revealed that decreased GMC(gray matter concentration) of the right medial and inferior frontal gyrus was associated with both depressive psychopathology and worse executive performance as measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST).	Positive
Depressed mood (depressive psychopathology)	symptoms	right inferiorfrontal gyrus (right inferior frontal gyrus)	brain morphology and function		Structure-cognition correlation analyses revealed that decreased GMC(gray matter concentration) of the right medial and inferior frontal gyrus was associated with both depressive psychopathology and worse executive performance as measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST).	Positive
MDD	syndrome	left hippocampus (left hippocampal gyrus)	brain morphology and function		Patients with depression showed reduced gray matter volume (GMV) was found in the left hippocampal gyrus	Positive
MDD	syndrome	Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex)	brain morphology and function		Patients with depression showed reduced gray matter concentration (GMC) in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA 46).	Positive
MDD	syndrome	Cingulate gyrus (cingulate gyrus)	brain morphology and function		Patients with depression showed reduced gray matter volume (GMV) was found in the cingulate gyrus (BA 24/32)	Positive
Executive functions (executive performance)	cognition and behavior	right inferiorfrontal gyrus (right inferior frontal gyrus)	brain morphology and function		Structure-cognition correlation analyses revealed that decreased GMC(gray matter concentration) of the right medial and inferior frontal gyrus was associated with both depressive psychopathology and worse executive performance as measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST).	Positive
Executive functions (executive performance)	cognition and behavior	right medial frontal gyrus (right medial frontal gyrus)	brain morphology and function		Structure-cognition correlation analyses revealed that decreased GMC(gray matter concentration) of the right medial and inferior frontal gyrus was associated with both depressive psychopathology and worse executive performance as measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST).	Positive
Executive functions (executive performance)	cognition and behavior	Hippocampus (hippocampus)	brain morphology and function		depressive psychopathology and worse performance during the WCST were associated with decreased GMV (gray matter volume) of the hippocampus.	Positive
Depressed mood (depressive psychopathology)	symptoms	Hippocampus (hippocampus)	brain morphology and function		depressive psychopathology and worse performance during the WCST were associated with decreased GMV (gray matter volume) of the hippocampus.	Positive
MDD	syndrome	Thalamus (thalamus)	brain morphology and function		Patients with depression showed reduced gray matter volume (GMV) was found in the thalamus.	Positive
MDD	syndrome	right orbitofrontal cortex (right orbitofrontal cortex)	brain morphology and function		Patients with depression showed reduced gray matter concentration (GMC) in the right orbitofrontal cortex (BA 11)	Positive
MDD	syndrome	left inferior temporal gyrus (left inferior temporal cortex)	brain morphology and function		Patients with depression showed reduced gray matter concentration (GMC) in the left inferior temporal cortex (BA 20)	Positive