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Subgenual prefrontal cortex abnormalities in mood disorders

Nature volume 386, pages 824–827 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

Pathological disturbances of mood may follow a 'bipolar' course, in which normal moods alternate with both depression and mania, or a 'unipolar' course, in which only depression occurs1–3. Both bipolar and unipolar disorders can be heritable illnesses associated with neurochemical, neuroendocrine and autonomic abnormalities. The neurobiological basis for these abnormalities has not been established2,3. Using positron emission tomographic (PET) images of cerebral blood flow and rate of glucose metabolism to measure brain activity, we have now localized an area of abnormally decreased activity in the pre-frontal cortex ventral to the genu of the corpus callosum in both familial bipolar depressives and familial unipolar depressives. This decrement in activity was at least partly explained by a corresponding reduction in cortical volume4, as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated reductions in the mean grey matter volume in the same area of 39 and 48% in the bipolar and unipolar samples, respectively. This region has previously been implicated in the mediation of emotional and autonomic responses to socially significant or provocative stimuli, and in the modulation of the neurotransmitter systems targeted by antidepressant drugs3,5–10.

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Author notes

  1. Wayne C. Drevets & Michael Vannier

    Present address: Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213-2593, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, 63110, USA

    Wayne C. Drevets, Richard D. Todd, Theodore Reich & Marcus E. Raichle

  2. Division of Radiological Sciences, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, 63110, USA

    Wayne C. Drevets, Joseph R. Simpson Jr & Michael Vannier

  3. Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, 63110, USA

    Wayne C. Drevets, Joseph L. Price & Marcus E. Raichle

  4. Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, 63110, USA

    Richard D. Todd, Theodore Reich & Marcus E. Raichle

  5. Department of Neurology and Neurological Surgery (Neurology), Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, 63110, USA

    Marcus E. Raichle

  6. McDonnell Center for Studies of Higher Brain Function, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, 63110, USA

    Marcus E. Raichle

  7. Department of Radiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 52242, USA

    Michael Vannier

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Drevets, W., Price, J., Simpson, J. et al. Subgenual prefrontal cortex abnormalities in mood disorders. Nature 386, 824–827 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/386824a0

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