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Abstract
The previous work suggest that the patients with MDD may have structural, as well as functional abnormalities in the hippocampus; a core area in the limbic-thalamic-cortical network, which is hypothesized to modulate human mood state.
The present study was carried out to evaluate the hippocampal volumetric changes in correlation with the memory changes in the patients with MDD, and to outline the relation between the hippocampal changes and the other variables associated with the burden of illness.
The epidemiology of MDD was discussed, including its prevalence which denotes 15% life time prevalence. Clinical picture of MDD, different factors and theories involved in the pathogenesis of MDD, including genetic, psycho-neuro-immunological, psycho-social factors, neuro-endocrinological, and the role of neurotransmitters were discussed. This chapter discussed also the comorbidity of MDD and post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, social phobia, personality disorders.
Structural and functional changes in the brain reported to occur in MDD patients were outlined. CT examined gross structural differences such as cerebral atrophy, ventricular enlargement, or cerebellar atrephy (Denise et al, 1999).
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has led to a variable explosion of studies documenting regional changes in the brain in psychiatric disorders, patients with psychiatric disorders generally manifest suntle brain abnormalities that are best characterized by quantitative measures. Reduced size of subcortical nuclei has also-been reported in depression with MRI (Krishnan et al, 1999).