✦ LIBER ✦

Anterior cingulate cortical volumes and treatment remission of geriatric depression

✍ Scribed by Faith M. Gunning; Janice Cheng; Christopher F. Murphy; Dora Kanellopoulos; Jessica Acuna; Matthew J. Hoptman; Sibel Klimstra; Shizuko Morimoto; James Weinberg; George S. Alexopoulos

Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
Year: 2009
Tongue: English
Weight: 138 KB
Volume: 24
Category: Article
ISSN: 0885-6230
DOI: 10.1002/gps.2290

No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Background

Structural abnormalities of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) may interfere with the interaction of cortical and limbic networks involved in emotional regulation and contribute to chronic depressive syndromes in the elderly. This study examined the relationship of regional anterior cingulate cortical volumes with treatment remission of elderly depressed patients. We hypothesized that patients who failed to remit during a 12‐week controlled treatment trial of escitalopram would exhibit smaller anterior cingulate gray matter volumes than patients who remitted.

Methods

The participants were 41 non‐demented individuals with non‐psychotic major depression. After a 2‐week single‐blind placebo period, subjects who still had a Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) of 18 or greater received escitalopram 10 mg daily for 12 weeks. Remission was defined as a HDRS score of 7 or below for at least 2 consecutive weeks. The patient sample consisted of 22 depressed patients who achieved remission during the study and 19 depressed patients who remained symptomatic. High‐resolution magnetization‐prepared rapidly acquired gradient echo (MPRAGE) sequences were acquired on a 1.5 T scanner and regional ACC volumes were manually outlined (dorsal, rostral, anterior subgenual, and posterior subgenual).

Results