Connie Svob1,2, Jie Liu1, Priya Wickramaratne1,2,3, Xuejun Hao1,4, Ardesheer Talati1,2, Jürgen Kayser1,5, Craig Tenke1,5, Virginia Warner2, Jie Yang1,2, Micheline Anderson6, Myrna M Weissman1,2,3. 1. Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. 2. Division of Epidemiology, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA. 3. Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. 4. Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA. 5. Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA. 6. Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine potential neural substrates that underlie the interplay between religiosity/spirituality and risk-for-depression. A new wave of data from a longitudinal, three generation study of individuals at high risk for depression is presented. In addition to providing new longitudinal data, we extend previous findings by employing additional (surface-based) methods for examining cortical volume. MEASURES PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were collected on 106 second and third generation family members at high or low risk for major depression defined by the presence or absence of depression in the first generation. Religiosity/spirituality measures were collected at the same time as the MRI scans and comprised self-report ratings of personal religious/spiritual (R/S) importance and frequency of religious attendance. Analyses were carried out with Freesurfer. Interactive effects of religiosity/spirituality and risk-for-depression were examined on measures of cortical thickness and cortical surface area. RESULTS: A high degree of belief in the importance of religion/spirituality was associated with both a thicker cortex and a larger pial surface area in persons at high risk for familial depression. No significant association was found between cortical regions and religious attendance in either risk group. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The results support previous findings of an association between R/S importance and cortical thickness in individuals at high risk for depression, and extend the findings to include an association between R/S importance and greater pial surface area. Moreover, the findings suggest these cortical changes may confer protective benefits to religious/spiritual individuals at high risk for depression.
OBJECTIVE: To examine potential neural substrates that underlie the interplay between religiosity/spirituality and risk-for-depression. A new wave of data from a longitudinal, three generation study of individuals at high risk for depression is presented. In addition to providing new longitudinal data, we extend previous findings by employing additional (surface-based) methods for examining cortical volume. MEASURES PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were collected on 106 second and third generation family members at high or low risk for major depression defined by the presence or absence of depression in the first generation. Religiosity/spirituality measures were collected at the same time as the MRI scans and comprised self-report ratings of personal religious/spiritual (R/S) importance and frequency of religious attendance. Analyses were carried out with Freesurfer. Interactive effects of religiosity/spirituality and risk-for-depression were examined on measures of cortical thickness and cortical surface area. RESULTS: A high degree of belief in the importance of religion/spirituality was associated with both a thicker cortex and a larger pial surface area in persons at high risk for familial depression. No significant association was found between cortical regions and religious attendance in either risk group. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The results support previous findings of an association between R/S importance and cortical thickness in individuals at high risk for depression, and extend the findings to include an association between R/S importance and greater pial surface area. Moreover, the findings suggest these cortical changes may confer protective benefits to religious/spiritual individuals at high risk for depression.
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