Journal article
Right external globus pallidus changes are associated with altered causal awareness in youth with depression
Translational Psychiatry, Vol.5, e653
2015
Abstract
Cognitive impairment is a functionally disabling feature of depression contributing to maladaptive decision-making, a loss of behavioral control and an increased disease burden. The ability to calculate the causal efficacy of ones actions in achieving specific goals is critical to normal decision-making and, in this study, we combined voxel-based morphometry (VBM), shape analysis and diffusion tensor tractography to investigate the relationship between cortical-basal ganglia structural integrity and such causal awareness in 43 young subjects with depression and 21 demographically similar healthy controls. Volumetric analysis determined a relationship between right pallidal size and sensitivity to the causal status of specific actions. More specifically, shape analysis identified dorsolateral surface vertices where an inward location was correlated with reduced levels of causal awareness. Probabilistic tractography revealed that affected parts of the pallidum were primarily connected with the striatum, dorsal thalamus and hippocampus. VBM did not reveal any whole-brain gray matter regions that correlated with causal awareness. We conclude that volumetric reduction within the indirect pathway involving the right dorsolateral pallidum is associated with reduced awareness of the causal efficacy of goal-directed actions in young depressed individuals. This causal awareness task allows for the identification of a functionally and biologically relevant subgroup to which more targeted cognitive interventions could be applied, potentially enhancing the long-term outcomes for these individuals.
Details
- Title
- Right external globus pallidus changes are associated with altered causal awareness in youth with depression
- Authors
- K R Griffiths (Author) - University of SydneyJim Lagopoulos (Author) - University of SydneyDaniel F Hermens (Author) - University of SydneyI B Hickie (Author) - University of SydneyB W Balleine (Author) - University of Sydney
- Publication details
- Translational Psychiatry, Vol.5, e653
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date published
- 2015
- DOI
- 10.1038/tp.2015.148
- ISSN
- 2158-3188
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2015 The Authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Thompson Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449205502621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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