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Advances in structural neuroimaging studies on major depressive disorders

ZHOU Ru-bai, ZHAO Guo-qing, LIN Ye-zhe, FANG Yi-ru   

  1. Division of Mood Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, China
  • Online:2016-10-28 Published:2016-11-29
  • Supported by:

    National Natural Science Foundation of China, 91232719; National Key Clinical Disciplines at Shanghai Mental Health Center, OMA-MH, 2011-873;National Key Technology Research & Development Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China in the “12th Five-year Plan”, 2012BAI01B04

Abstract:

Structural neuroimaging is an important field in mental disorder researches and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used for studying major depressive disorders (MDD). However, no consensus has been reached in structural neuroimaging researches on depression and measured variables have many limitations, so it is not suitable for clinical practices. This study analyses brain structural changes during onset and development of MDD using MRI via new variables such as brain volume, cortical thickness, surface area, and hypergyrification. This article focuses on etiology, diagnosis, treatment, as well as prognosis of MDD, and reviews structural neuroimaging researches according to brain regions, so as to introduce clinical advances in this field.

Key words: major depressive disorder, magnetic resonance imaging, structure