The Danish PET/depression project: performance on Stroop's test linked to white matter lesions in the brain

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Danish PET/depression project: performance on Stroop's test linked to white matter lesions in the brain

AU - Videbech, Poul

AU - Ravnkilde, Barbara

AU - Gammelgaard, Lise

AU - Egander, Annette

AU - Clemmensen, Karin

AU - Rasmussen, Niels Anton

AU - Gjedde, Albert

AU - Rosenberg, Raben

PY - 2004

Y1 - 2004

N2 - The Stroop test (ST) assesses the integrity of prefrontal and cingulate functioning. Patients with major depression perform poorly on the ST, pointing to disturbed function in these areas. We therefore used positron emission tomography to study 41 in-patients with major depression and 46 age- and gender-matched controls during neuropsychological activation with the ST. Magnetic resonance imaging was used for coregistration and for description of the localization of white matter lesions (WML). The cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes during ST were mapped for each of the two study groups, and inter-group differences were calculated on a voxel-by-voxel basis. The patients were followed for 3 to 5 years to ensure diagnostic stability. The control group activated anterior cingulate regions, prefrontal cortices, insula, thalamus and cerebellum. Despite the patients' slower performance with more errors, no significant differences were found comparing the activations in the two groups. The performance was, however, correlated to the number of WML in frontal lobes, insula and adjacent to the basal ganglia, whereas WML in other locations was not related to performance. We thus partly explain the poorer performance by increased frequency of WML in frontostriatal pathways in the depressed patients, impairing neurotransmission.

AB - The Stroop test (ST) assesses the integrity of prefrontal and cingulate functioning. Patients with major depression perform poorly on the ST, pointing to disturbed function in these areas. We therefore used positron emission tomography to study 41 in-patients with major depression and 46 age- and gender-matched controls during neuropsychological activation with the ST. Magnetic resonance imaging was used for coregistration and for description of the localization of white matter lesions (WML). The cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes during ST were mapped for each of the two study groups, and inter-group differences were calculated on a voxel-by-voxel basis. The patients were followed for 3 to 5 years to ensure diagnostic stability. The control group activated anterior cingulate regions, prefrontal cortices, insula, thalamus and cerebellum. Despite the patients' slower performance with more errors, no significant differences were found comparing the activations in the two groups. The performance was, however, correlated to the number of WML in frontal lobes, insula and adjacent to the basal ganglia, whereas WML in other locations was not related to performance. We thus partly explain the poorer performance by increased frequency of WML in frontostriatal pathways in the depressed patients, impairing neurotransmission.

U2 - 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2003.10.002

DO - 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2003.10.002

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 15033182

SN - 0165-1781

VL - 130

SP - 117

EP - 130

JO - Psychiatry Research

JF - Psychiatry Research

IS - 2

ER -