Hippocampal volume and sensitivity to maternal aggressive behavior: A prospective study of adolescent depressive symptoms

Abstract

It has been suggested that biological factors confer increased sensitivity to environmental influences on depressive symptoms during adolescence, a crucial time for the onset of depressive disorders. Given the critical role of the hippocampus in sensitivity to stress and processing of contextual aspects of the environment, investigation of its role in determining sensitivity to environmental context seems warranted. This study prospectively examined hippocampal volume as a measure of sensitivity to the influence of aggressive maternal behavior on change in depressive symptoms from early to midadolescence. The interaction between aggressive maternal behavior and hippocampal volume was found t..