Hippocampal morphology in Huntington's disease, implications for plasticity and pathogenesis: The IMAGE-HD study

Fiona A Wilkes; David Jakabek; Mark Walterfang; Dennis Velakoulis; Govinda R Poudel; Julie C Stout; Phyllis Chua; Gary F Egan; Jeffrey C L Looi; Nellie Georgiou-Karistianis

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2023.111694

Hippocampal morphology in Huntington's disease, implications for plasticity and pathogenesis: The IMAGE-HD study

Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. 2023 Oct:335:111694. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2023.111694. Epub 2023 Aug 2.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Research Centre for the Neurosciences of Ageing, Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, Australian National University Medical School, Canberra Hospital, Canberra, Australia. Electronic address: u4314249@anu.edu.au.
² Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia.
³ Neuropsychiatry Unit, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, University of Melbourne and Northwestern Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia; Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
⁴ Mary Mackillop Institute for Health Research, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁵ School of Psychological Sciences and the Turner Institute of Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne, Australia.
⁷ Research Centre for the Neurosciences of Ageing, Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, Australian National University Medical School, Canberra Hospital, Canberra, Australia; Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia.

PMID: 37598529
DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2023.111694

Abstract

While striatal changes in Huntington's Disease (HD) are well established, few studies have investigated changes in the hippocampus, a key neuronal hub. Using MRI scans obtained from the IMAGE-HD study, hippocampi were manually traced and then analysed with the Spherical Harmonic Point Distribution Method (SPHARM-PDM) in 36 individuals with presymptomatic-HD, 37 with early symptomatic-HD, and 36 healthy matched controls. There were no significant differences in overall hippocampal volume between groups. Interestingly we found decreased bilateral hippocampal volume in people with symptomatic-HD who took selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors compared to those who did not, despite no significant differences in anxiety, depressive symptoms, or motor incapacity between the two groups. In symptomatic-HD, there was also significant shape deflation in the right hippocampal head, showing the utility of using manual tracing and SPHARM-PDM to characterise subtle shape changes which may be missed by other methods. This study confirms previous findings of the lack of hippocampal volumetric differentiation in presymptomatic-HD and symptomatic-HD compared to controls. We also find novel shape and volume findings in those with symptomatic-HD, especially in relation to decreased hippocampal volume in those treated with SSRIs.

Keywords: Depression; Hippocampus; Huntington's disease; SSRIs.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Corpus Striatum
Hippocampus / diagnostic imaging
Humans
Huntington Disease* / diagnostic imaging
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
Neurons