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Table 1 Selection of imaging findings in psychiatric illness

From: Personalized medicine in psychiatry: problems and promises

Psychiatric illness

Subgroup/genotype

Imaging feature

Sample

Imaging method

Reference

Major depressive disorder

 

• Reduced activity in frontal lobes

Various

PET, fMRI, EEG, SPECT

[351]

  

• Reduced HPC volumes

Meta-analyses

MRI

[352, 353]

  

• Greater reduction in HPC volume with increased duration of untreated MDD

38 male outpatients

MRI

[354]

  

• Increased baseline activity in pulvinar nuclei bilaterally

Meta-analysis

PET and SPECT

[343]

  

• Increased amygdala, dorsal ACC, and insular response to negative stimuli compared with healthy controls

Meta-analysis

Task-based fMRI

[343]

  

• Reduced dlPFC and dorsal striatum response to negative stimuli compared with healthy controls

Meta-analysis

Task-based fMRI

[343]

 

5-HTTLPR -S or Lg allele:

Increased amygdala reactivity to masked emotional faces; correlated to lifetime psychiatric hospitalization in MDD

35MDD, 32 controls

fMRI

[355]

 

5-HTTLPR -S or Lg allele:

Increased bilateral amygdala activation after emotional stimuli (allele effects are additive)

27 MDD on medication

fMRI

[356]

 

5-HT1A - 1019G allele:

 

5-HTTLPR- L/L:

Reduced HPC volumes compared with controls

40 MDD, 40 controls

MRI

[357]

Late onset (LO) MDD

5-HTTLPR- L/L:

Reduced HPC volumes compared with S/L or S/S genotypes

63 LO MDD, 72 EO MDD, 83 controls

MRI

[358]

Early onset (EO) MDD

5-HTTLPR -S allele:

Reduced HPC volumes compared with left allele carriers

   

Bipolar disorder

 

• Increased size of lateral ventricles (right ventricle only in [359])

Meta-analyses

CT and MRI

[359–361]

  

• Increased number of deep white-matter hyperintensities

Meta-analyses

CT and MRI

[360–363]

  

• Increased number of subcortical gray-matter hyperintensities

Meta-analysis

MRI

[362]

  

• Increased activity in limbic structures (left side only in [364])

Meta-analyses

fMRI and PET

[364, 365]

  

• Reduced activity in frontal structures (vlPFC and dlPFC [364])

 

Pediatric population:

• Reduced amygdala volume

Meta-analyses

MRI

[365, 366]

Schizophrenia

 

• Reduced frontal-lobe activity at rest and during task activation

Meta-analysis

MRI, PET

[367, 368]

  

• Increased lateral ventricular size

Meta-analyses

CT and MRI

[369, 370]

  

• Increased D2 dopamine receptor density

Meta-analysis

PET and SPECT

[371]

  

• Reduced frontal gray matter

Meta-analyses

MRI

[372, 373]

 

SZ:

• Reduced bilateral HPC volume relative to controls

Meta-analyses

MRI

[374–376]

 

nonpsychotic 1st deg family:

Meta-analysis

MRI

[370]

 

BDNF 66Val/Val carriers:

• Reduced activation of the cingulate, lateral PFC and lateral parietal regions during verbal memory task

58 high-risk subjects (first-degree or second-degree family with SZ)

fMRI

[377]

  1. +/−A, alcohol abuse positive/negative subjects; ACC, anterior cingulate cortex; Cho, choline; CT, computed tomography; DA, dopamine; dlPFC, dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex; EO, early onset; fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging; 1H-MRS, proton MR spectroscopy; HPC, hippocampal; LO, late onset; MDD, major depressive disorder; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; NAA, N-acetylaspartate; parahippocampal gyrus; PET, positron emission tomography; Tx, treated; vlPFC, ventral-lateral pre-frontal cortex; vmPFC, ventral-medial pre-frontal cortex.
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BMC Medicine

ISSN: 1741-7015

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