A diffusion tensor imaging study of white matter integrity in adult major depressive disorder

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) provides information about cerebral white matter integrity in vivo, and fractional anisotropy (FA) is a commonly used index to describe the anisotropy of diffusion. Past studies have reported microstructural white matter abnormalities in widespread prefrontal regions in late-life depression [1, 2] and found prefrontal white matter alterations to be associated with neuropsychological function [3]. In latest study, the authors used DTI to test the hypothesis that MDD had microstructural white matter abnormalities in cortico-striato-limbic networks implicated in geriatric depression [4]. However, most DTI studies recruited elderly patients, and no studies yet have detected the white matter change in adult major depressive disorder (MDD). The aim of the present study is to examine for the white matter microstructural abnormalities in MDD using a rigorous voxel-based analysis of DTI data.