Department of Psychology, Whitelands College, University of Roehampton, London, UK.
Department of Psychology, University of Roehampton, London, UK.
J Psychopharmacol. 2021 Dec;35(12):1464-1472. doi: 10.1177/02698811211050550. Epub 2021 Oct 26.
Depression and low mood are leading contributors to disability worldwide. Research indicates that clinical depression may be associated with low creatine concentrations in the brain and low prefrontal grey matter volume. Because subclinical depression also contributes to difficulties in day-to-day life, understanding the neural mechanisms of depressive symptoms in all individuals, even at a subclinical level, may aid public health.
Eighty-four young adult participants completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) to quantify severity of depression, anxiety and stress, and underwent H-Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of the medial prefrontal cortex and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine whole-brain grey matter volume.
RESULTS/OUTCOMES: DASS depression scores were negatively associated (a) with concentrations of creatine (but not other metabolites) in the prefrontal cortex and (b) with grey matter volume in the right superior medial frontal gyrus. Medial prefrontal creatine concentrations and right superior medial frontal grey matter volume were positively correlated. DASS anxiety and DASS stress scores were not related to prefrontal metabolite concentrations or whole-brain grey matter volume.
CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATIONS: This study provides preliminary evidence from a representative group of individuals who exhibit a range of depression levels that prefrontal creatine and grey matter volume are negatively associated with depression. While future research is needed to fully understand this relationship, these results provide support for previous findings, which indicate that increasing creatine concentrations in the prefrontal cortex may improve mood and well-being.
抑郁和情绪低落是导致全球残疾的主要原因。研究表明，临床抑郁症可能与大脑中肌酸浓度降低和前额叶灰质体积减少有关。由于亚临床抑郁症也会导致日常生活困难，因此了解所有个体（即使处于亚临床水平）的抑郁症状的神经机制可能有助于公共卫生。
84 名年轻成年参与者完成了抑郁、焦虑和压力量表（DASS），以量化抑郁、焦虑和压力的严重程度，并接受了内侧前额叶皮质的 H 磁共振波谱和结构磁共振成像（MRI），以确定全脑灰质体积。
结果/结果：DASS 抑郁评分与前额叶皮质中的肌酸浓度呈负相关（a）（但与其他代谢物无关），与右侧上内侧额回的灰质体积呈负相关。内侧前额叶肌酸浓度和右侧上内侧额回灰质体积呈正相关。DASS 焦虑和 DASS 压力评分与前额叶代谢物浓度或全脑灰质体积无关。
结论/解释：本研究从一组具有不同抑郁水平的代表性个体中提供了初步证据，表明前额叶肌酸和灰质体积与抑郁呈负相关。虽然需要进一步研究来全面了解这种关系，但这些结果为先前的发现提供了支持，表明增加前额叶皮质中的肌酸浓度可能会改善情绪和幸福感。
