Cerebral metabolic patterns in untreated postmenopausal women with major depressive disorder

Cerebral metabolic rates were assessed using [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in six naturally postmenopausal women with untreated unipolar depression and 11 matched controls. All subjects were hormone therapy-naive and medication-free. Findings include hypermetabolism in the middle frontal gyrus and Broca regions, and hypometabolism in the pons among depressed compared with non-depressed women.