Subcortical volumes differentiate Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and remitted Major Depressive Disorder

Subcortical gray matter regions have been implicated in mood disorders, including Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Bipolar Disorder (BD). It is unclear, however, whether or how these regions differ among mood disorders and whether such abnormalities are state- or trait-like. In this study, we examined differences in subcortical gray matter volumes among euthymic BD, MDD, remitted MDD (RMD), and healthy (CTL) individuals. Using automated gray matter segmentation of T1-weighted MRI images, we estimated volumes of 16 major subcortical gray matter structures in 40 BD, 57 MDD, 35 RMD, and 61 CTL individuals. We used multivariate analysis of variance to examine group differences in these structures, and support vector machines (SVMs) to assess individual-by-individual classification. Analyses yielded significant group differences for caudate (p = 0.029) and ventral diencephalon (VD) volumes (p = 0.003). For the caudate, both the BD (p = 0.004) and the MDD (p = 0.037) participants had smaller volumes than did the CTL participants. For the VD, the MDD participants had larger volumes than did the BD and CTL participants (ps < 0.005). SVM distinguished MDD from BD with 59.5% accuracy. These findings indicate that mood disorders are characterized by anomalies in subcortical gray matter volumes and that the caudate and VD contribute uniquely to differential affective pathology. Identifying abnormalities in subcortical gray matter may prove useful for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mood disorders.