Abstract
Background: Few studies have examined white matter abnormalities in suicide attempters using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). This study sought to identify white matter regions altered in individuals with a prior suicide attempt. Methods: DTI scans were acquired in 13 suicide attempters with major depressive disorder (MDD), 39 non-attempters with MDD, and 46 healthy participants (HP). Fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were determined in the brain using two methods: region of interest (ROI) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). ROIs were limited a priori to white matter adjacent to the caudal anterior cingulate cortex, rostral anterior cingulate cortex, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and medial orbitofrontal cortex. Results: Using the ROI approach, suicide attempters had lower FA than MDD non-attempters and HP in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Uncorrected TBSS results confirmed a significant cluster within the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex indicating lower FA in suicide attempters compared to non-attempters. There were no differences in ADC when comparing suicide attempters, non-attempters and HP groups using ROI or TBSS methods. Conclusions: Low FA in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex was associated with a suicide attempt history. Converging findings from other imaging modalities support this finding, making this region of potential interest in determining the diathesis for suicidal behavior.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 60-67 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Psychiatric Research |
Volume | 51 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- Diffusion tensor imaging
- Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex
- Major depressive disorder
- Suicide attempt
- Tract-based spatial statistics
- White matter
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Biological Psychiatry
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)