Title:Brain Structural Effects of Antidepressant Treatment in Major Depression
Volume: 13
Issue: 4
Author(s): Nicola Dusi, Stefano Barlati, Antonio Vita and Paolo Brambilla
Affiliation:
Keywords:
amitriptyline, amygdala, cingulate, citalopram, doxepine, fluoxetine, fluxovamine, hippocampus, mirtazapine,
paroxetine, prefrontal cortex, reboxetine, sertraline, trimipramine, venlafaxine.
Abstract: Depressive disorder is a very frequent and heterogeneous syndrome. Structural imaging
techniques offer a useful tool in the comprehension of neurobiological alterations that concern
depressive disorder. Altered brain structures in depressive disorder have been particularly located in
the prefrontal cortex (medial prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex, OFC) and medial temporal cortex areas
(hippocampus). These brain areas belong to a structural and functional network related to cognitive and emotional
processes putatively implicated in depressive symptoms. These volumetric alterations may also represent biological
predictors of response to pharmacological treatment. In this context, major findings of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging,
in relation to treatment response in depressive disorder, will here be presented and discussed.