Relationship between depression, prefrontal creatine and grey matter volume
Faulkner P, Paioni SL, Kozhuharova P, Orlov N, Lythgoe DJ, Daniju Y, Morgenroth E, Barker H, Allen P
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 19 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Cross-sectional study (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Nonprofit
- British Academy
- Grants
- British Academy (SG152153)
Based on 1 listed funder(s) and full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2021-10-26 · J Psychopharmacol · vol. 35 · issue 12 · pp. 1464–1472
- Publisher
- SAGE Publishing
- Cited
- 26 citations · more than 80% of similar papers · 1.5× the field average
- References
- 64 works
- Access
- Open access (hybrid journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Muscle metabolism and nutrition · Advanced MRI Techniques and Applications · Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Keywords
- Grey matter, Prefrontal cortex, Psychology, Depression (economics), Anxiety, Creatine, Mood, Magnetic resonance imaging, Subclinical infection, Psychiatry, Internal medicine, Ventromedial prefrontal cortex, Anterior cingulate cortex, Medicine, Neuroscience, White matter, Radiology, Cognition
- MeSH
- prefrontal cortex, humans, creatine, magnetic resonance imaging, severity of illness index, depression, adolescent, adult, female, male, young adult, gray matter, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy
9 authors
From GB, IT, CH
- Paul Faulkner · correspondingUniversity of Roehampton
- Susanna Lucini PaioniUniversity of Milan
- Petya KozhuharovaUniversity of Roehampton
- Natasza D. OrlovWellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging; King's College London
- David J LythgoeWellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging; King's College London
- Yusuf DanijuUniversity of Roehampton
Abstract
Background
Depression and low mood are leading contributors to disability worldwide. Research indicates that clinical depression may be associated with low creatine concentrations in the brain and low prefrontal grey matter volume. Because subclinical depression also contributes to difficulties in day-to-day life, understanding the neural mechanisms of depressive symptoms in all individuals, even at a subclinical level, may aid public health.
Methods
Eighty-four young adult participants completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) to quantify severity of depression, anxiety and stress, and underwent 1H-Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of the medial prefrontal cortex and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine whole-brain grey matter volume.
Results/outcomes
DASS depression scores were negatively associated (a) with concentrations of creatine (but not other metabolites) in the prefrontal cortex and (b) with grey matter volume in the right superior medial frontal gyrus. Medial prefrontal creatine concentrations and right superior medial frontal grey matter volume were positively correlated. DASS anxiety and DASS stress scores were not related to prefrontal metabolite concentrations or whole-brain grey matter volume.
Conclusions/interpretations
This study provides preliminary evidence from a representative group of individuals who exhibit a range of depression levels that prefrontal creatine and grey matter volume are negatively associated with depression. While future research is needed to fully understand this relationship, these results provide support for previous findings, which indicate that increasing creatine concentrations in the prefrontal cortex may improve mood and well-being.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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