Comparison of shape alterations of the thalamus and caudate nucleus between drug-naive major depressive disorder patients and healthy controls

Abstract

Background: Although structural alterations have been reported in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), very few studies have compared the shape alterations of the subcortical regions between drug-naive MDD patients and healthy controls (HCs). Therefore, we investigated and compared the subcortical shape alterations and volumetric changes between drug-naive MDD patients and HCs in this study.

Methods: This study included 45 drug-naive MDD patients and 83 HCs, who underwent three-dimensional (3-D) T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging. Surface-based vertex analysis (SVA) was performed with automated segmentation of the bilateral caudate nuclei, putamina, nuclei accumbens, thalami, pallidum, hippocampi, amygdalae, and brainstem. SVA revealed regional contractions of the thalamus (bilateral medial and lateral nuclei) and right caudate nucleus (medial wall and anterosuperior areas) in the drug-naive MDD patients when compared to HCs

Results: In volume analysis, the drug-naive MDD patients showed a significant decrease in the volume of bilateral thalami compared with HCs (after Bonferroni correction p < 0.003). We identified morphometric contractions in bilateral thalami and right caudate nucleus in the drug-naive MDD patients (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: The present study implied that with cortical shape changes, the subcortical brain alterations could contribute to emotional dysregulation in the drug-naive MDD patients.