Parsing the Hippocampus in Depression: Chronic Stress, Hippocampal Volume, and Major Depressive Disorder

SEE CORRESPONDING ARTICLES ON PAGES 443 AND 487 The Impact of Stress and Major Depressive Disorder on Hippocampal and Medial Prefrontal Cortex MorphologyBiological PsychiatryVol. 85Issue 6PreviewVolumetric reductions in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are among the most well-documented neural abnormalities in major depressive disorder (MDD). Hippocampal and mPFC structural reductions have been specifically tied to MDD illness progression markers, including greater number of major depressive episodes (MDEs), longer illness duration, and nonremission/treatment resistance. Chronic stress plays a critical role in the development of hippocampal and mPFC deficits, with some studies suggesting that these deficits occur irrespective of MDE occurrence. Full-Text PDF The Hippocampus in Depression: More Than the Sum of Its Parts? Advanced Hippocampal Substructure Segmentation in DepressionBiological PsychiatryVol. 85Issue 6PreviewHippocampal volume reduction is the most replicated finding in neuroimaging studies of major depressive disorder (MDD). Varying hippocampal volume definition is a well-established problem in this field. Given that hippocampal function can be mapped onto anatomically defined substructures and that detailed examination of substructure volumes is now possible, we examined different hippocampal composite measures in MDD to look for hippocampal markers of MDD. Full-Text PDF