Enlarged Thalamic Volumes and Increased Fractional Anisotropy in the Thalamic Radiations in Veterans with Suicide Behaviors

Lopez-Larson, Melissa; King, Jace B.; McGlade, Erin; Bueler, Elliott; Stoeckel, Amanda; Epstein, Daniel; Yurgelun‐Todd, Deborah

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2013.00083

Cited by 59 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 99 publications

(136 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…20,22 In veterans with TBI and attempt history, FA increases in frontal WM projections were associated with impulsivity. 23 These DTI data further support the contributions of anterior WM abnormalities to impulsive suicide behavior.…”

Section: Evidence Synthesissupporting

confidence: 55%

Neurobiological Risk Factors for Suicide

Lippard

Johnston

Blumberg

2014

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Context This article reviews neuroimaging studies on neural circuitry associated with suicide-related thoughts and behaviors to identify areas of convergence in findings. Gaps in the literature for which additional research is needed are identified. Evidence acquisition A PubMed search was conducted and articles published prior to March 2014 were reviewed that compared individuals who made suicide attempts to those with similar diagnoses who had not made attempts or to healthy comparison subjects. Articles on adults with suicidal ideation and adolescents who had made attempts, or with suicidal ideation, were also included. Reviewed imaging modalities included structural magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, single photon emission computerized tomography, positron emission tomography, and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Evidence synthesis Although many studies include small samples, and subject characteristics and imaging methods vary across studies, there were convergent findings involving the structure and function of frontal neural systems and the serotonergic system. Conclusions These initial neuroimaging studies of suicide behavior have provided promising results. Future neuroimaging efforts could be strengthened by more strategic use of common data elements, and a focus on suicide risk trajectories. At-risk subgroups defined by biopsychosocial risk factors and multidimensional assessment of suicidal thoughts and behaviors may provide a clearer picture of the neural circuitry associated with risk status—both current and lifetime. Also needed are studies investigating neural changes associated with interventions that are effective in risk reduction.

show abstract

Section: Evidence Synthesissupporting

confidence: 55%

Neurobiological Risk Factors for Suicide

Lippard

Johnston

Blumberg

2014

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These included: the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) (Mahon et al, 2012, Monkul, Hatch, 2007, Soloff, Pruitt, 2012), cingulate cortex (Amen et al, 2009, Wagner, Koch, 2011, Wagner, Schultz, 2012, Willeumier, Taylor, 2011), insula (Soloff, Pruitt, 2012, Willeumier, Taylor, 2011), amygdala (Monkul, Hatch, 2007), parahippocampus (Altshuler et al, 1990, Soloff, Pruitt, 2012), thalamus (Lopez-Larson, King, 2013) and basal ganglia (Vang, Ryding, 2010, Wagner, Koch, 2011, Willeumier, Taylor, 2011). Similarly, past work using both volumetric and DTI methods to examine white matter in suicidal individuals identified: the internal capsule (Jia, Wang, 2013), thalamic radiation (Jia, Wang, 2013, Lopez-Larson, King, 2013), cingulum bundle (Yurgelun-Todd et al, 2011), and the corpus callosum (Cyprien, Courtet, 2011, Matsuo, Nielsen, 2010, Nery-Fernandes, Rocha, 2012). We included the uncinate fasciculus as it connects with the orbitofrontal cortex, identified in gray matter analyses (Jia, Wang, 2013, Mahon, Burdick, 2012).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reductions in perfusion and metabolism are also observed in many of these regions (Willeumier, Taylor, 2011). Suicidality is further associated with subcortical differences, including smaller volumes of the caudate and basal ganglia (Vang et al, 2010, Wagner, Koch, 2011) but larger volumes of the amygdala (Monkul, Hatch, 2007) and thalamus (Lopez-Larson et al, 2013). Suicidality in MDD is also associated with white matter alterations, with microstructural abnormalities reported in frontal white matter (Olvet et al, 2014) and the fronto-thalamic circuit, including the anterior limb of the internal capsule, right lentiform nucleus and OFC (Jia et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Widespread white matter but focal gray matter alterations in depressed individuals with thoughts of death

Taylor

Boyd

McQuoid

et al. 2015

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Past work demonstrates that depressed individuals with suicidal thoughts or behaviors exhibit specific neuroanatomical alterations. This may represent a distinct phenotype characterized by specific findings on neuroimaging, but it is unclear if these findings extend to individuals with milder thoughts of death. We examined this question in outpatients with recurrent Major Depressive Disorder not receiving antidepressant treatment. Methods We examined 165 subjects: 53 depressed without thoughts of death, 21 depressed with thoughts of death, and 91 healthy comparison subjects. Participants completed 3T cranial MRI, including anatomical and diffusion tensor imaging acquisitions. Automated methods measured regional gray matter volumes in addition to cortical thickness. White matter analyses examined diffusion measures within specific fiber tracts and included voxelwise comparisons. Results After adjustment for multiple comparisons, the depressed group with thoughts of death did not exhibit differences in regional gray matter volume, but did exhibit reduced cortical thickness in frontoparietal regions and the insula. This depressed group with thoughts of death also exhibited widespread white matter differences in fractional anisotropy and radial diffusivity. These differences were observed primarily in posterior parietal white matter regions and central white matter tracts adjacent to the basal ganglia and thalamus. Conclusions Mild thoughts of death are associated with structural alterations in regions of the salience network, default mode network, and thalamocortical circuits. Further work is needed to understand the pathological basis of these findings.

show abstract

“…Although these findings are of significant interest, whole brain voxel-based analysis is sensitive to poor registration (Bookstein, 2001) and is not limited to white matter tissue. Other studies have examined FA in suicide attempters with traumatic brain injury (TBI), showing a non-significant increase in FA in the anterior thalamic radiation of individuals with past suicidal behavior (Lopez-Larson et al, 2013) and a positive correlation between current suicidal ideation and FA in the cingulate (Yurgelun-Todd et al, 2011). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A diffusion tensor imaging study of suicide attempters

Olvet

Peruzzo

Thapa-Chhetry

et al. 2014

Journal of Psychiatric Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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) was 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.

show abstract

Enlarged Thalamic Volumes and Increased Fractional Anisotropy in the Thalamic Radiations in Veterans with Suicide Behaviors

Cited by 59 publications

References 99 publications

Neurobiological Risk Factors for Suicide

Neurobiological Risk Factors for Suicide

Widespread white matter but focal gray matter alterations in depressed individuals with thoughts of death

A diffusion tensor imaging study of suicide attempters

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About