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Early childhood depression may alter neural development
Experiencing a major depressive disorder episode in early childhood was associated with altered cortical gray matter volume loss and thinning in later childhood, according to recent findings.
“Although development of gray matter begins in utero, there has been much interest in its trajectory during the school-age and early adolescent period. The specific cellular processes that underlie gray matter change during this period in humans remain to be elucidated. In contrast with white matter, which shows linear increases in volume, findings suggest a pattern of rapid neurogenesis and related increases in gray matter volume during early childhood, peaking in early puberty followed by a process of selective elimination and myelination, resulting in volume loss and thinning,” Joan L. Luby, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, and colleagues wrote. “Building on advances in mapping the normative trajectory of gray matter development, there has been escalating interest in whether symptoms of childhood psychiatric disorders and/or genetic predisposition to psychiatric disorders alter this trajectory.”
To assess the effect of early childhood depression — from preschool age to school age — on cortical gray matter development, researchers evaluated 193 children aged 3 to 6 years for up to 11 years. Ninety children had lifetime major depressive disorder. Volume, thickness and surface area of cortical gray matter was measured with MRI at three scan waves.
During the study period, researchers observed significant changes in cortical gray matter volume loss (slope estimate = −0.93 cm3; 95% CI, −1.75 to −0.1 cm3 per scan wave) and thinning (slope estimate = −0.0044 mm; 95% CI, −0.0077 to −0.0012 mm per scan wave) associated with experiencing an episode of major depressive disorder prior to the first MRI scan.
However, researchers found no significant associations between gray matter development and family history of depression or experiences of traumatic or stressful life events during the study period.
“As with all research that moves a field forward, the findings by Luby et al raise additional questions,” Ian H. Gotlib, PhD, and Sarah J. Ordaz, PhD, of Stanford University, wrote in an accompanying editorial. “Are adolescents who differ in cortical thinning comparable before the emergence of depression disorder? How does cortical thinning unfold? Does each depressive episode alter neural trajectories and increase the likelihood of subsequent depressive episodes? Do trajectories change more markedly through puberty? How can peers, parents, and treatments counteract maladaptive developmental trajectories? We now have the analytic tools to answer these and other questions.” – by Amanda Oldt
Disclosure: Luby reports receiving royalties from Guilford Press. Gotlib and Ordaz report no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.