35.2 Probing Structural and Functional Subcortical Regions Implicated in Youth Depression

Background: Prior structural and functional neuroimaging research in adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD) has consistently implicated abnormalities in subcortical regions (Auerbach et at., 2014; Luking et al., 2016). However, research has often relied on sample sizes that limit power to detect effects that are presumed to be small. Additionally, heterogeneity in disease course and treatment history undoubtedly affects the reliable identification of structural and functional abnormalities among unaffected, high-risk youth as well as youth diagnosed with MDD. To reconcile inconsistent structural and functional neuroimaging findings, the presentation will leverage data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study and Boston Adolescent Neuroimaging of Depression and Anxiety (BANDA). ABCD is a multi-site project that was designed to assess normal variability in adolescent brain and cognitive development among 9-10-year-old children. By contrast, BANDA is a human connectome project that aims to characterize neural circuitry underlying depression and anxiety in adolescents ages 14-16 years. Collectively, these projects afford a unique opportunity to probe subcortical abnormalities in at-risk and currently depressed youth. Methods: The ABCD Study acquired structural MRI data from 9-10-year-old children (n = 4,521). Of these children, 29.7% (n = 1,343) had a parental depressive history. Secondary analyses also tested whether subcortical brain differences were present in youth with a lifetime depressive disorder history. For BANDA, adolescents (n = 141) completed an incentive processing task while fMRI data were collected. Primary analyses probed differences in subcortical activation, and secondary analyses will test whether blunted activation within striatal regions related to anhedonia and a history of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Results: Several findings emerged. Within ABCD, relative to low-risk youth, high-risk participants with a maternal, but not paternal, depression history exhibited smaller volumes of the right putamen, right accumbens, and left pallidum (FDR-corrected p