Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
Brain Topogr. 2021 Sep;34(5):587-597. doi: 10.1007/s10548-021-00846-0. Epub 2021 May 14.
Neuroticism is one of the main endophenotypes of major depressive disorder (MDD) and is closely related to the negative effect systems of Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) domains. The relationship between neuroticism and aging is dynamic and complex. Moreover, reduced hippocampal volumes are probably the most frequently reported structural neuroimaging finding associated with MDD. However, it remains unclear to what extent hippocampal abnormalities are linked with age and neuroticism changes in people with depression through the adult life span. This study aimed to examine the interplay between aging and neuroticism on hippocampal morphometric across the adult life-span in a relative large sample of patients with depressive disorders (114 patients, 73 females, age range: 18-74 years) and healthy control (HC) subjects (112 healthy controls, 72 females, age range: 19-72 years). MDD patients showed reduced bilateral hippocampal volumes. The effect of aging on the left hippocampal showed linear and the right hippocampal volume non-linear trajectories throughout the adult life span in healthy groups and MDD groups respectively. The hippocampal atrophy was dynamically impacted by depression at the early stages of adult life. Furthermore, we observed that right hippocampal volume reduction was associated with higher neuroticism in depressive patients younger than 30.65 years old. Our results suggest that the age-related atrophy in the right hippocampal volume was more affected by individual differences in neuroticism among younger depressive patients. Hippocampal volume reduction as a vulnerability factor for early-onset and major geriatric depression may have a distinct endophenotype.
神经质是重性抑郁障碍（MDD）的主要内表型之一，与研究领域标准（RDoC）领域的负面效应系统密切相关。神经质与衰老之间的关系是动态和复杂的。此外，海马体体积减少可能是与 MDD 相关的最常报道的结构神经影像学发现。然而，目前尚不清楚在抑郁症患者的整个成年期，海马体异常与年龄和神经质变化之间的关系程度。本研究旨在探讨在一个相对较大的抑郁障碍患者样本（114 名患者，73 名女性，年龄范围：18-74 岁）和健康对照组（112 名健康对照者，72 名女性，年龄范围：19-72 岁）中，神经质和年龄对海马形态的相互作用。MDD 患者表现出双侧海马体体积减小。在健康组和 MDD 组中，年龄对左侧海马体的影响呈线性，对右侧海马体体积的影响呈非线性轨迹。海马体萎缩在成年早期受抑郁症的动态影响。此外，我们观察到，在 30.65 岁以下的抑郁患者中，右侧海马体体积减少与神经质水平较高有关。我们的研究结果表明，年轻抑郁患者的右侧海马体体积与神经质个体差异之间的相关性更强，这与年龄相关的萎缩有关。海马体体积减少作为早发性和老年重性抑郁的易感性因素，可能具有独特的内表型。
