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Structural Neuroimaging Research Methods in Geriatric Depression

From the Division of Clinical Research (MJH), Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, New York; the Department of Psychiatry (MJH), NY University School of Medicine, New York, NY; Weill Medical College of Cornell University (FMG-D, CFM, GSA), Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, White Plains, New York; and the Department of Psychiatry (KOL), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Geriatric depression consists of complex and heterogeneous behaviors unlikely to be caused by a single brain lesion. However, there is evidence that abnormalities in specific brain structures and their interconnections confer vulnerability to the development of late-life depression. Structural magnetic resonance imaging methods can be used to identify and quantify brain abnormalities predisposing to geriatric depression and in prediction of treatment response. This article reviews several techniques, including morphometric approaches, study of white matter hyperintensities, diffusion tensor imaging, magnetization transfer imaging, t2 relaxography, and spectroscopy, that have been used to examine these brain abnormalities with a focus on the type of information obtained by each method as well as each method’s limitations. The authors argue that the available methods provide complementary information and that, when combined judiciously, can increase the knowledge gained from neuroimaging findings and conceptually advance the field of geriatric depression.

Key Words: Depression • neuroimaging • white matter • gray matter

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