The relation between brain MRI lesions and depressive symptoms in multiple sclerosis

The authors investigated the relationship between depression and involvement of specific brain areas in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. 20 MS patients (10 depressed and 10 non-depressed) were evaluated. The emotional state was assessed by several neuropsychological tests, and all of the patients underwent 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance (MRI) including T1 and T2 weighted images. MRI data were analyzed by measuring the regional area of lesions (in mm2) in the frontal, temporal and corpus callosum locations, side and the number of lesions. The correlation of MRI findings between depressed and non-depressed groups of patients has shown that a statistically significant difference was achieved between regional frontal lesions area (p = 0.02), aa well as significant difference between regional temporal area of lesions (p = 0.13). In the depressed group of patients a greater lesions area was achieved in the right when compared with the left frontal lobe. No differences were obtained for the temporal lobe. The highest number of lesions were observed in the right frontal lobe in the depressed group of patients. Our findings have shown that depressive symptoms are associated with the area and location of brain lesions. (Tab. 1, Fig. 2, Ref. 8.)