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Effects of early-life adversity on white matter diffusivity changes in patients at risk for major depression.
- Source :
-
Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN [J Psychiatry Neurosci] 2012 Jan; Vol. 37 (1), pp. 37-45. - Publication Year :
- 2012
-
Abstract
- Background: Relatives of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and people who experienced early-life adversity are at risk for MDD. The aim of our study was to investigate whether unaffected first-degree healthy relatives (UHRs) of patients with MDD show changes in white matter fibre connections compared with healthy controls and whether there are interactions between early-life adversity and these microstructural changes.<br />Methods: Unaffected, healthy first-degree relatives of patients with MDD and healthy controls without any family history for a psychiatric disease underwent high angular resolution diffusion imaging with 61 diffusion directions. Data were analyzed with tract-based spatial statistics, and findings were confirmed with tractography.<br />Results: Twenty-one UHRs and 24 controls participated in our study. The UHRs showed greater fractional anisotropy than controls in the body and splenium of the corpus callosum, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFO), left superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) and right fornix. The UHRs who experienced more early-life adversity had greater fractional anisotropy than those with less early-life adversity in the splenium of the corpus callosum, fornix, IFO and SLF; in controls, early-life adversity was found to be associated with decreased fractional anisotropy in these fibre tracts.<br />Limitations: Studying participants' strategies for coping with early-life adversity would have been helpful. Crossing fibres intracts are a general limitation of the method used.<br />Conclusion: Altogether, our findings provide evidence for greater fractional anisotropy in UHRs and for interaction between early-life adversity and family risk on white matter tracts involved in cognitive-emotional processes. Whether stronger neural fibre connections are associated with more resilience against depression needs to be addressed in future studies.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Anisotropy
Depressive Disorder, Major psychology
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Female
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Male
Middle Aged
Risk Factors
Adult Survivors of Child Abuse
Brain physiopathology
Depressive Disorder, Major physiopathology
Life Change Events
Nerve Fibers, Myelinated physiology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1488-2434
- Volume :
- 37
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 22008179
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1503/jpn.110028