Depressed patients with subclinical hypothyroidism show reduced gray matter linked to cognitive dysfunction

Published on February 8, 2023

Imagine you have a beautiful garden, and every plant represents a different aspect of your brain. Well, researchers have discovered that in depressed patients who also have subclinical hypothyroidism (SHypo), one particular plant, the right middle frontal gyrus (MFG), seems to be wilting. This wilting of the MFG is associated with cognitive impairments, specifically poor executive function. In other words, these patients may struggle with tasks like decision-making, problem-solving, and planning. The reduced gray matter volume (GMV) in the MFG is likely responsible for these cognitive difficulties. So just as a garden needs all its plants to thrive for it to be healthy, our brains need the right balance of gray matter to function properly. It’s fascinating how the connection between depression and thyroid health can impact our cognition! If you want to dig deeper into this study and learn more about how gray matter alterations can affect cognitive function in comorbid individuals, feel free to check out the full article!

IntroductionTo explore the association between regional gray matter volume (GMV) and cognitive impairments and ascertain whether the regional brain alterations related to cognitive impairments occur in major depressive disorder (MDD) patients with comorbid subclinical hypothyroidism (SHypo).MethodsWe enrolled 32 MDD patients, 32 MDD patients with comorbid SHypo, and 32 normal controls and subjected them to thyroid function tests, neurocognitive tests, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis, we examined the pattern of gray matter (GM) in these participants. We also used ANOVA to detect group differences and partial correlation to explore the potential association between GMV alterations and cognitive tests in comorbid patients.ResultsThe comorbid patients exhibited significantly smaller GMV in the right middle frontal gyrus (MFG) than the non-comorbid group. Furthermore, the partial correlation analysis showed that GMV of the right MFG was associated with poor executive function (EF) performance in comorbid patients.ConclusionThese findings provide valuable insight into the relationship between the alteration of GMV and cognitive dysfunction of MDD patients with comorbid SHypo.

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