Frontal white matter microstructure and treatment response of late-life depression: a preliminary study. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • OBJECTIVE: This study tested the hypothesis that microstructural abnormalities in white matter areas of the brain containing frontostriatal tracts are associated with a low rate of remission of geriatric depression. METHOD: Thirteen older patients with major depression received open, but controlled, treatment with citalopram at a target daily dose of 40 mg for 12 weeks. Diffusion tensor imaging was used to determine fractional anisotropy in preselected white matter regions. RESULTS: Survival analysis with Cox's proportional hazards model revealed that lower fractional anisotropy of the right and the left frontal white matter regions 15 mm above the anterior commissure-posterior commissure plane was associated with a low remission rate after age was considered. Remission was not significantly associated with fractional anisotropy of lower frontal regions or a temporal region. CONCLUSIONS: Microstructural white matter abnormalities lateral to the anterior cingulate may be associated with a low rate of remission of geriatric depression.

publication date

  • November 1, 2002

Research

keywords

  • Citalopram
  • Corpus Striatum
  • Depressive Disorder, Major
  • Dominance, Cerebral
  • Frontal Lobe

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 0036842532

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1176/appi.ajp.159.11.1929

PubMed ID

  • 12411231

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 159

issue

  • 11