Depressive symptoms and neuroanatomical structures in community-dwelling women: A combined voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging study with tract-based spatial statistics

• We studied neuroanatomical structures associated with subclinical depression.
• The analysis was performed across the whole brain in a large sample.
• Anterior cingulate gray matter volume reduction was revealed by VBM.
• Broad white matter integrity differences were revealed by DTI with TBSS.
• Both changes were seen only in females but not in males.

Depressive symptoms, even at a subclinical level, have been associated with structural brain abnormalities. However, previous studies have used regions of interest or small sample sizes, limiting the ability to generalize the results. In this study, we examined neuroanatomical structures of both gray matter and white matter associated with depressive symptoms across the whole brain in a large sample. A total of 810 community-dwelling adult participants underwent measurement of depressive symptoms with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The participants were not demented and had no neurological or psychiatric history. To examine the gray and white matter volume, we used structural MRI scans and voxel-based morphometry (VBM); to examine the white matter integrity, we used diffusion tensor imaging with tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). In female participants, VBM revealed a negative correlation between bilateral anterior cingulate gray matter volume and the CES-D score. TBSS showed a CES-D-related decrease in fractional anisotropy and increase in radial and mean diffusivity in several white matter regions, including the right anterior cingulum. In male participants, there was no significant correlation between gray or white matter volume or white matter integrity and the CES-D score. Our results indicate that the reduction in gray matter volume and differences in white matter integrity in specific brain regions, including the anterior cingulate, are associated with depressive symptoms in women.