Structural Features of the Brain in Juvenile Depression with Clinical High Risk of Psychosis

Objectives. To identify the structural features of the gray matter of the cerebral cortex in patients with depression at clinical high risk of psychosis. Materials and methods. Nineteen right-handed male patients with juvenile depression who met the criteria for a high risk of psychosis, along with 20 sex- and age-matched mentally healthy subjects as a control group, underwent clinical and MRI investigations. T1-weighted images were processed in FreeSurfer 7.1.1 to obtain average cortical gray matter thickness, subcortical volume, and amygdalar nucleus volume for each subject. Between-group comparisons were made and correlations with psychometric measures (SOPS, HDRS) were calculated. Results. Lower cortical thickness was found in patients in the left (p = 0.002) and right (p = 0.003) postcentral gyrus, along with greater thickness in the right posterior cingulate cortex (p = 0.003) and the anterior part of the anterior cingulate cortex (p = 0.001). Conclusions. This picture may reflect changes in the cerebral cortex at the early stages of the endogenous process, including reductions in gray matter in some areas and changes in the opposite direction in others (a relationship between the latter and altered ontogenesis and/or certain compensatory changes cannot be excluded). © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.