Adolescent depression and brain development: evidence from voxel-based morphometry

Background Investigating adolescents and young adults may provide a unique opportunity to understand developmental aspects of the neurobiology of depression. During adolescence, a considerable physiologic reorganization of both grey and white matter of the brain takes place, and it has been suggested that differences in grey-matter volumes during adolescence may reflect different maturational processes. Methods We investigated grey-matter volumes in a comparatively large sample (n = 103) of adolescents and young adults (aged 12 to 27 years), 60 of them with a diagnosis of current depression. Results Replicating previous studies, we found a clear whole-brain effect of age: the older the participants, the lower their global grey-matter volumes, particularly in the paracingulate and prefrontal cortices. Contrasting depressed and healthy youth in a whole-brain approach, we found greater grey-matter volumes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of those with depression. Furthermore, a region-of-interest analysis indicated lower grey-matter volumes in the hippocampus in participants with depression compared with healthy controls. Limitations The present study was limited because of a skewed sex distribution, its cross-sectional design and the fact that some participants were taking an antidepressant. Conclusion During adolescence, restructuring of the brain is characterized by marked decreases in prefrontal grey-matter volumes, interpreted as a correlate of brain maturation. Findings of greater volumes in the prefrontal cortex, particularly in younger adolescents with depression, may suggest that these participants were more prone to delayed brain maturation or increased neuroplasticity. This finding may represent a risk factor for depression or constitute an effect of developing depression.