Structural brain development and depression onset during adolescence: A prospective longitudinal study

S Whittle; R Lichter; M Dennison; N Vijayakumar; O Schwartz; ML Byrne; JG Simmons; M Yücel; C Pantelis; P McGorry; NB Alle

Journal article

Structural brain development and depression onset during adolescence: A prospective longitudinal study

S Whittle, R Lichter, M Dennison, N Vijayakumar, O Schwartz, ML Byrne, JG Simmons, M Yücel, C Pantelis, P McGorry, NB Alle

American Journal of Psychiatry | Published : 2014

DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.13070920

Abstract

Objective: The authors sought to investigate whether the structural development of limbic, striatal, and prefrontal regions that are critically implicated in the pathophysiology of depression is associated with adolescent-onset depression. Method: In a longitudinal design, a riskenriched community sample of 86 adolescents (41 of them female) who had no history of depressive disorders participated in neuroimaging assessments conducted during early (age 12) and midadolescence (age 16). Onset of depressive disorders was assessed for the period spanning early to late adolescence (ages 12 to 18). Thirty participants experienced a first episode of a depressive disorder during the follow-up period...

View full abstract

University of Melbourne Researchers

Sarah Whittle Author

Nandita Vijayakumar Author

Orli Schwartz Author

Julian Simmons Author

Related Projects (4)

Sensitivity to the environment: Risk and resilience for adolescent depression

Depression is among the leading causes of disability and disease burden throughout the world. Little is known about how biological and envir..

RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP - PROF CHRISTOS PANTELIS

I have established and head the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre within the University of Melbourne. My university position is a research ch..

Brain development during adolescence and the emergence of depression: A longitudinal MRI study.

Traditionally mental health services have focused on established disorders. Whilst significant gains in outcomes have been obtained in other..

EMERGING SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS IN YOUNG PEOPLE

Mental disorders, such as psychotic and severe mood disorders, are the largest cause of disability in Australia. However, there is still lit..

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

Prof. McGorry has received research grant funding from Janssen-Cilag and AstraZeneca and honoraria from Janssen, Lundbeck, Roche, and Servier. The other authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests. Supported by grants from the Colonial Foundation, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC; program grant 350241), and the Australian Research Council (discovery grant DP0878136). Dr. Whittle is supported by an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (ID: 1007716). Dr. Dennison was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award, Dr. Lichter was supported by a Fay Marles Scholarship. Prof. Yucel is supported by an NHMRC Fellowship (ID: 1021973). Prof. Pantelis is supported by a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship (ID: 628386). Ms. Vijayakumar is supported by a Melbourne International Research Scholarship.