Impaired frontothalamic circuitry in suicidal patients with depression revealed by diffusion tensor imaging at 3.0 T
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: The neurobiology of suicide is largely unknown. Studies of white matter tracts in patients with a history of suicidal behaviour have shown alteration in the left anterior limb of the internal capsule (ALIC). Our aim was to determine whether particular target fields of fibre projections through the ALIC are affected in depressed patients who recently attempted suicide. METHODS: We studied patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) with and without a history of suicide attempts and healthy controls using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and deterministic tractography to generate fibre tract maps for each participant. Tract voxels were coded as being unique to the left ALIC. We compared the mean percentage of fibres projecting to relevant brain regions in the 3 groups using analysis of covariance. RESULTS: We included 63 patients with MDD (23 with and 40 without a history of suicide attempts) and 46 controls in our study. Both groups of depressed patients had reduced fibre projections through the ALIC to the left medial frontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and thalamus. Those with a history of suicide attempts had greater abnormalities than those without suicide attempts in the left orbitofrontal cortex and thalamus. LIMITATIONS: Diffusion tensor imaging deterministic tracking is unable to distinguish between afferent and efferent pathways, limiting our ability to distinguish the directionality of altered fibre tracts. CONCLUSION: Frontothalamic loops passing through the ALIC are abnormal in patients with depression and significantly more abnormal in depressed patients with a history of suicide attempts than in those without a history of suicide attempts. Abnormal projections to the orbitofrontal cortex and thalamus may disrupt affective and cognitive functions to confer a heightened vulnerability for suicidal behaviour.
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In mood disorders, a prior suicide attempt is associated with lower fractional anisotropy in frontal-subcortical connections.
“In mood disorders, a prior suicide attempt is associated with lower FA in frontal-subcortical connections (76-79).”
From A brain-centric model of suicidal behavior (2020) · cites this paper as [76]
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- Authors
- Jia, Z., Wang, Y., Huang, X., Kuang, W., Wu, Q., Lui, S., Sweeney, J., & Gong, Q.
- Affiliations
- West China Hospital of Sichuan University (CN)
- Venue
- Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Canadian Science Publishing
- Published
- 2014-05-01
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 170-177
- ISSN
- 1180-4882 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3997602
- OpenAlex
- W2023966843
- Cited by
- 132
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 3
- FWCI
- 9.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
- Keywords
- suicide, major depressive disorder, white matter tracts, orbitofrontal cortex, thalamus, medial frontal cortex, suicidal behavior, deterministic tractography, suicide attempts
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Major Depressive Disorder, Female, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Male, Suicide, Attempted, Thalamus, Internal Capsule, Diffusion Tensor Imaging
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