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White matter microstructure relates to lassitude but not diagnosis in adolescents with depression

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Abstract

The neurobiology of adolescent depression remains poorly understood. Initial studies suggested impaired white matter microstructure in adults and adolescents, but findings have not been consistent. Challenges in this literature have included small samples, medication confounds and inconsistent correction for type I error. This study addressed these issues in a new examination of fractional anisotropy (FA) in adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) using diffusion tensor imaging. We examined FA in 81 adolescents aged 12–19 (44 MDD [all unmedicated], 37 controls). We conducted logistic regression analyses to examine the odds of MDD versus control based on FA within standard white matter tracts that were delineated by probabilistic tractography. We also examined relationships between FA and disease severity (overall depression and dimensions of illness). Finally, we conducted a voxel-wise group comparison of FA. All analyses covaried for age, sex and socioeconomic status, and applied rigorous corrections for multiple testing. Logistic regression did not reveal significant associations between diagnosis and FA within white matter tracts defined by probabilistic tractography. Dimensional analyses revealed that greater lassitude was associated with higher FA in right cingulum bundle and bilateral corticospinal tracts, but with lower FA in right anterior thalamic radiation. Voxel-wise group comparisons of FA did not reveal significant group differences. The current findings do not support low FA as a neurobiological marker of adolescent depression. Dimensional results suggest that FA relates to lassitude but not overall depression. Given the clinical and neurobiological heterogeneity of depression, future work utilizing dimensional approaches may help elucidate the role of white matter microstructure in adolescent depression neurobiology.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (K23MH090421) and the National Alliance for Research on Depression.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Minnesota, 2450 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA

    Kathryn R. Cullen, Kristina Reigstad, Dawson Hill, Kelvin O. Lim & Bryon A. Mueller

  2. Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Roland Brown & Lynn E. Eberly

  3. Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Melinda Westlund Schreiner & Bonnie Klimes-Dougan

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  1. Kathryn R. Cullen
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  2. Roland Brown
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  3. Melinda Westlund Schreiner
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Correspondence to Kathryn R. Cullen.

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The research was approved and monitored by the University of Minnesota Institutional Review Board, Human Research Protection Program. The informed consent process was completed with all participants before participation in the study. For those 18–19 years, participants completed consent on their own. For those 17 years of age and younger, participants provided assent while parents completed the consent. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Cullen, K.R., Brown, R., Schreiner, M.W. et al. White matter microstructure relates to lassitude but not diagnosis in adolescents with depression. Brain Imaging and Behavior 14, 1507–1520 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-019-00078-8

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