Impact of family history and depression on amygdala volume.

Family history of depression significantly impacts life-long depression risk. Family history could impact the stress and emotion regulation system that involves the amygdala. This study's purpose was to investigate family history's effect on amygdala volumes, and differences in first degree relatives with and without major depressive disorder (MDD).

Early life adversity is associated with brain changes in subjects at family risk for depression.

Objective: The interplay of genetic and early environmental factors is recognized as an important factor in the aetiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). The aim of the present study was to examine whether reduced volume of hippocampus and frontal brain regions involved in emotional regulation are already present in unaffected healthy individuals at genetic risk of suffering MDD and to investigate whether early life adversity is a relevant factor interacting with these reduced brain structures.

Method: Twenty unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with MDD (FHP: family history positive) and 20 healthy controls (FHN: family history negative) underwent high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging.