Cortical thickness and volume reductions in young adults with current suicidal ideation.

The extent to which observed differences in emotion processing and regulation neural circuitry in young adults with current suicidal ideation are paralleled by structural differences is unknown. We measured brain cortical thickness and gray and white matter volumes in 78 young adults aged 18-35: 35 with current suicidal ideation (SI) and 43 healthy controls (HC). The SI group, compared to HC, showed reduction in cortical thickness in the bilateral precentral gyri and diminished cortical volume in the left middle frontal gyrus. These regions are implicated in executive function, stress regulation, and emotion processing. We propose that these structural differences among the SI group could be contributing to suicidal thought patterns.