Hippocampal volume in first episode and recurrent depression

Kronmüller, Klaus-Thomas; Schröder, Johannes; Köhler, Sebastian; Götz, Bianca; Victor, Daniela; Unger, Jörg; Giesel, Frederic; Magnotta, Vincent; Mundt, Christoph; Essig, Marco; Pantel, Johannes

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2008.08.001

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 174, Issue 1 , Pages 62-66, 30 October 2009

Hippocampal volume in first episode and recurrent depression

Klaus-Thomas Kronmüller
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany
- Corresponding author. Department of Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Voßstraße 4, D-69115 Heidelberg, Germany. Tel.: +49 6221 5632747; fax: +49 6221 565477.
Johannes Schröder
- Section of Geriatric Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Sebastian Köhler
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Bianca Götz
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Daniela Victor
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Jörg Unger
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Frederic Giesel
- Department of Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
Vincent Magnotta
- Mental Health Clinical Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Christoph Mundt
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Marco Essig
- Department of Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
Johannes Pantel
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Frankfurt/Main, Germany

Received 9 March 2007; received in revised form 17 December 2007; accepted 5 August 2008.

Abstract

Abnormalities in limbic–thalamic–cortical networks are hypothesized to modulate human mood states. In the present study differences in hippocampal volumes of patients with a first episode of depression, recurrent major depression and healthy control subjects were examined with high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Male patients with a first episode of major depression had a significantly smaller left hippocampal volume than male control subjects. Also, these patients had a significant left–right asymmetry in hippocampal volume. Female patients showed no significant alterations in hippocampal volumes. The results support the hypothesis that the hippocampus plays an important role in the pathophysiology of the early phase of major depression, especially for male patients. Implications for the neurodevelopmental and the neurodegenerative model of hippocampal change are discussed.

Keywords: Affective disorders, Structural brain imaging, Gender effects