Depression in elderly persons subject to childhood maltreatment is not modulated by corpus callosum and hippocampal loss.

Karen Ritchie (1, 2) , Isabelle Jaussent (1) , Florence Portet (1) , Philippe Courtet (1, 3) , Alain Malafosse (1, 4) , Jerome Maller (5) , Chantal Meslin (6) , Alain Bonafé (3) , Emmanuelle Le Bars (3) , Nicolas Menjot de Champfleur (3) , Sylvaine Artero (1) , Marie-Laure Ancelin (1)

1 PSNREC - Neuropsychiatrie : recherche épidémiologique et clinique
2 Neuroscience Division
3 Urgence et post-urgence psychiatrique
4 Département de Psychiatrie
5 MAPrc - Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre
6 Centre for Mental Health Research

Childhood adversity has been observed to engender structural changes in the hippocampus and corpus callosum associated with increased risk for depression in childhood and early adulthood. This study investigated this association in the elderly. Corpus callosum area and hippocampal volume were measured from structural MRI in 427 community dwelling elderly. Information on childhood adversity was obtained in the course of a clinical examination using a questionnaire covering multiple aspects of abuse. Multivariate analyses found a significant increase in corpus callosum area and hippocampal volume in subjects exposed to mental disorder in parents and poverty, respectively. No association was found with childhood sexual and physical abuse.

Keywords: depression; child abuse; corpus callosum; hippocampus; elderly; magnetic resonance imaging

Domains: Santé publique et épidémiologie

Karen Ritchie, Isabelle Jaussent, Florence Portet, Philippe Courtet, Alain Malafosse, et al.. Depression in elderly persons subject to childhood maltreatment is not modulated by corpus callosum and hippocampal loss.. Journal of Affective Disorders, 2012, 141 (2-3), pp.294-9. ⟨10.1016/j.jad.2012.03.035⟩. ⟨inserm-00704602⟩