The Brain Structural And Functional Mechanism Of Facial Emotion Recognition In Patients With A First Episode Of Major Depression

Part Ⅰ: Brain structural abnormalities in patients with a firstepisode of major depression — An OptimizedVoxel-based morphonmetry MRI studyOBJECTIVE: We examined the structural difference in regional gray matter density between unmedicated patients with a first episode of major depression (MD) and healthy comparison participants (HC) in order to find the base of pathophysiologic mechanism in MD. METHODS: Twenty MDs (7 males) and twenty age and education-matched HCs (7males) were studied by optimized voxel-based morphometry (OVBM) based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). RESULTS: 1. MDs had significantly lower density of the prefrontal cortex area (BA9, BA10, BA11, BA47 and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex) , bilateral temporal lob, bilateral hippocampus, bilateral Cerebellum and caudate and putamen in sub-lobe than HCs. 2. MDs had significantly higher density of right insula, left amygdala and uncus than HCs. 3. Symptomatic degree (HAMD) in MD was negatively associated with the regional gray matter density of bilateral preceneus,middle-temporal gyrus,inferior frontal gyrus, hippocampus and cingulate gyrus. CONCLUSIONS: Reductions in the prefrontal cortex (BA9, BA10,...