Reduced ventral anterior cingulate and amygdala volumes in medication-naïve females with major depressive disorder: A voxel-based morphometric magnetic resonance imaging study

High resolution magnetic resonance imaging and voxel-based morphometry were used to compare regional gray matter volumes between 14 medication-naïve female participants with a first episode of major depressive disorder (MDD) and 13 female healthy comparison participants (HC). Volumes of bilateral ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC) and right amygdala were significantly smaller in the MDD group than in the HC group. These results suggest that volume reductions in vACC and amygdala in females with MDD are present at illness onset.