Asymmetry in cortical thickness and subcortical volume in treatment-naïve major depressive disorder

Numerous cognitive and emotional functions are executed asymmetrically between the left and right hemispheres. Right hemisphere hyperactivity/left hemisphere hypoactivity often appears to be a feature in neuroimaging studies of depression. However, few studies have evaluated abnormalities in structural asymmetry in untreated patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

In this study, 3-dimensional high-resolution structural magnetic resonance images were acquired from 35 treatment-naïve patients with MDD (mean age = 28.9 years, 22 females) and 35 normal controls. The asymmetry index in cortical thickness and subcortical volume were calculated based on an automated surface-based technique.

Abnormalities in structural asymmetry in patients with MDD were mainly located in the cortical-striatal-pallidal-thalamic circuit, including the superior frontal cortex, rostral middle frontal cortex, caudal middle frontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, pallidum and thalamus. No significant correlation was observed between symptom severity and asymmetric measurements.

These findings provide further evidence for the altered morphological interhemispheric imbalances in depression and these alterations were independent of depressive symptom severity, suggesting that cerebral asymmetry could be an appropriate indicator of morphological variations in mental disease.