Hippocampal subregion volume in high-risk offspring is associated with increases in depressive symptoms across the transition to adolescence

Abstract

Background: The hippocampus has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. This study examined whether youth hippocampal subregion volumes were differentially associated with maternal depression history and youth's depressive symptoms across the transition to adolescence.

Methods: 74 preadolescent offspring (M_age=10.74+/-0.84 years) of mothers with (n = 33) and without a lifetime depression history (n = 41) completed a structural brain scan. Youth depressive symptoms were assessed with clinical interviews and mother- and youth-reports prior to the neuroimaging assessment at age 9 (M_age=9.08+/-0.29 years), at the neuroimaging assessment, and in early adolescence (M_age=12.56+/-0.40 years).

Results: Maternal depression was associated with preadolescent offspring's reduced bilateral hippocampal head volumes and increased left hippocampal body volume. Reduced bilateral head volumes were associated with offspring's increased concurrent depressive symptoms. Furthermore, reduced right hippocampal head volume mediated associations between maternal depression and increases in offspring depressive symptoms from age 9 to age 12.

Limitations: This study included a modest-sized sample that was oversampled for early temperamental characteristics, one neuroimaging assessment, and no correction for multiple comparisons.

Conclusions: Findings implicate reductions in hippocampal head volume in the intergenerational transmission of risk from parents to offspring.

Keywords: Adolescence; Depression; Hippocampus; MRI; Maternal depression; Volume.