The Hippocampus in Depression: More Than the Sum of Its Parts? Advanced Hippocampal Substructure Segmentation in Depression

Abstract

Background: Hippocampal volume reduction is the most replicated finding in neuroimaging studies of major depressive disorder (MDD). Varying hippocampal volume definition is a well-established problem in this field. Given that hippocampal function can be mapped onto anatomically defined substructures and that detailed examination of substructure volumes is now possible, we examined different hippocampal composite measures in MDD to look for hippocampal markers of MDD.

Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging brain scans were compared between 80 patients with a range of MDD duration and 83 healthy control subjects. High-resolution T1-weighted and T2-weighted-fluid-attenuated inversion recovery magnetic resonance images were examined using the automated hippocampal substructure module in FreeSurfer 6.0. Between-group volumetric assessments were performed at substructure and composite substructures levels.

Results: Patients with MDD showed a bilateral pattern of volume reduction in principal hippocampal substructures: the cornu ammonis (CA1-CA4), dentate gyrus, and subiculum. Changes were more pronounced on the left of these structures and in recurrent depression. CA2 to CA4 were the only substructures reduced in first-presentation depression. Overall changes were most marked in the left CA1, and CA1 volume was a predictor of illness duration.

Conclusions: Hippocampal involvement in MDD is confined to principal substructures only. Differences between patients with MDD and healthy control subjects increased with progressively restricted hippocampal definitions, with the left CA1 emerging as a potential marker of MDD. Changes were more extensive in patients with recurrent, as opposed to first-presentation, MDD, suggesting a hippocampal disease process. These findings identify core hippocampal regions in the pathology of MDD, suggesting a potential marker of disease progression in MDD.

Keywords: Depression; First-presentation; FreeSurfer; Hippocampus; Recurrent; Substructure.