Associations between depression, lifestyle and brain structure: A longitudinal MRI study
NeuroImage, vol. 231, pp. 117834
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Depression has been associated with decreased regional grey matter volume, which might partly be explained by an unhealthier lifestyle in depressed individuals which has been ignored by most earlier studies. Also, the longitudinal nature of depression, lifestyle and brain structure associations is largely unknown. This study investigates the relationship of depression and lifestyle with brain structure cross-sectionally and longitudinally over up to 9 years. METHODS: = 609). Cortical thickness of medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) and hippocampal volume were derived using FreeSurfer. Using Generalized Estimating Equations, we investigated associations of depression and lifestyle (Body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and sleep duration) with brain structure and change in brain structure over 2 (n = 179) and 9 years (n = 82). RESULTS: Depression status (B = -.053, p = .002) and severity (B = -.002, p = .002) were negatively associated with rACC thickness. mOFC thickness was negatively associated with BMI (B = -.004, p < .001) and positively with moderate alcohol consumption (B = .030, p = .009). All associations were independent of each other. No associations were observed between (change in) depression, disease burden or lifestyle factors with brain change over time. CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms and diagnosis were independently associated with thinner rACC, BMI with thinner mOFC, and moderate alcohol consumption with thicker mOFC. No longitudinal associations were observed, suggesting that regional grey matter alterations are a long-term consequence or vulnerability indicator for depression but not dynamically or progressively related to depression course trajectory.
Authors 6
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Julia Binnewies corresponding
Amsterdam Neuroscience · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam · Amsterdam University Medical Centers
Affiliation as printed
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: j.binnewies@amsterdamumc.nl
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Amsterdam Neuroscience · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam · Amsterdam University Medical Centers
Affiliation as printed
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: l.nawijn@amsterdamumc.nl
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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University Medical Center Groningen
Affiliation as printed
Department of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.j.van.tol@umcg.nl
Department of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
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Leiden University Medical Center
Affiliation as printed
Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. Electronic address: N.J.A.van_der_Wee@lumc.nl
Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Amsterdam Neuroscience · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam · Amsterdam University Medical Centers · Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Affiliation as printed
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: dj.veltman@amsterdamumc.nl
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Amsterdam Neuroscience · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam · Amsterdam University Medical Centers · Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Affiliation as printed
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: b.penninx@amsterdamumc.nl
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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