Smaller frontal lobe white matter volumes in depressed adolescents.

Background: Prior studies have demonstrated reduced frontal lobe volumes in depressed adolescents. In this study, frontal lobe gray and white matter volumes in adolescents with major depressive disorder were evaluated.

Methods: Nineteen depressed and thirty-eight healthy comparison adolescents were recruited for a magnetic resonance imaging study. Images were segmented into gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid. Morphometric measurements of the whole brain and frontal lobe region were completed.

Results: Whole brain volumes were significantly smaller in depressed subjects compared with the healthy comparison subjects. Significantly smaller frontal white matter volumes and significantly larger frontal gray matter volumes were found in the depressed subjects, after controlling for age and whole brain volume.

Conclusions: These results are consistent with the hypothesis that a deficit in frontal volume exists during cortical development in adolescents with depression. Further studies are needed to assess whether volume differences resolve over time and the extent to which these differences influence response to treatment.