Depression and brain structures associations across a lifespan

In clinical patient-control cohorts, modest associations were found between depression and structural brain changes. No such associations were detected in general population cohorts of subclinical depression. Also, no indications were present of age-dependent effects [1].

Depression is associated with decreased prefrontal thickness and hippocampal volume; some evidence suggests this may also apply to subclinical depression. With increasing age, brain volume decreases, mainly grey matter volume. Less is known about these associations in the general population and across the lifespan since most studies on depression have limited age ranges.

Ms Julia Binnewies (University of Groningen, the Netherlands) and colleagues analysed possible associations between (sub)clinical depression and brain structure, including potential effects of age and sex on these associations. Enrolled were 3,447 participants from 8 cohorts of the European Lifebrain Consortium: 5 were general population cohorts and 2 included patients with depression and healthy controls. Measured outcomes were the thickness of rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), and hippocampal volume. Depression based on several depression scales served as a predictor, resulting in continuous depressive symptoms and dichotomous depression status.

The total cohort comprised 3,428 subjects, 540 (15.7%) of whom met the criteria for mild-to-severe depression: 287 (9.5%) in the general population cohort, 253 (62.1%) in the patient-control cohorts. Within this group, 262 met the criteria for moderate-to-severe depression. Across all cohorts and across general population cohorts, there were no associations between depression symptom severity or depression status with any of the brain measures. In the 2 clinical patient-control cohorts, depression symptom severity was associated with lower mOFC thickness (r=-0.13), rACC thickness (r=-0.21), and lower hippocampal volume (r=-0.13). Depression was associated with lower mOFC thickness (r=-0.08). There were no indications of age-dependent effects. The authors concluded that their findings illustrate structural brain changes are mainly limited to clinically depressed patients and are rather modest.

1. Binnewies J. Associations between depression and brain structure across the lifespan: results from the European Lifebrain Consortium. S.10.01, ECNP 2021 Congress, 2–5 October.

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Posted on 26 November 202117 May 2024