@article{60d10c33ba364904a1cb2ea43ca1225e,
title = "Hippocampal volume changes in healthy subjects at risk of unipolar depression",
abstract = "Unipolar depression is moderately heritable. It is unclear whether structural brain changes associated with unipolar depression are present in healthy persons at risk of the disorder. Here we investigated whether a genetic predisposition to unipolar depression is associated with structural brain changes. A priori, hippocampal volume reductions were hypothesized. Using a high-risk study design, magnetic resonance imaging brain scans were obtained from 59 healthy high-risk subjects having a co-twin with unipolar depression, and 53 healthy low-risk subjects without a first-degree family history of major psychiatric disorder. High-risk twins had smaller hippocampal volumes than low-risk twins (p<0.04). The finding was most pronounced in DZ twins. Groups did not differ on global brain tissue volumes or regional tissue volumes assessed in exploratory voxel-wise whole cerebrum analyses. In conclusion, hippocampal volume reduction may index a predisposition to develop depression and thus may be predictive of future onset of the disorder. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of (shared) environmental and genetic factors.",
keywords = "Adult, Brain Mapping, Depressive Disorder, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Hippocampus, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Organ Size, Reference Values, Risk Factors, Twins, Dizygotic, Twins, Monozygotic",
author = "Baar{\'e}, {William F C} and Maj Vinberg and Knudsen, {Gitte M} and Paulson, {Olaf B} and Langkilde, {Annika R} and Jernigan, {Terry L} and Kessing, {Lars Vedel}",
note = "Copyright {\textcopyright} 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",
year = "2010",
month = jul,
doi = "10.1016/j.jpsychires.2009.12.009",
language = "English",
volume = "44",
pages = "655--662",
journal = "Journal of Psychiatric Research",
issn = "0022-3956",
publisher = "Pergamon Press",
number = "10",
}