Dr. Maryna Polyakova

The glial hypothesis of major depression discusses alterations of glial cells, namely astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, as specific for this disorder. This hypothesis is supported in vivo by increases in the glial marker protein S100B in serum, and by post mortem histopathological studies. Another potential plasticity marker, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), is shown to be decreased in depression and restored after antidepressant treatment in serum. In contrast to glial marker proteins, the neuronal marker neuron specific enolase (NSE) is not altered in depressive patients. Nothing is known so far about these serum markers in minor depression. Major depression has been related to specific neural clusters in imaging studies, in particular (grey matter volume reductions in mid-frontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala). Minor depression is believed to be a prestate of MD. Only one imaging study has been is published on minor depression yet that showed volume reductions in the prefrontal cortex. However, combing both kinds of information, serum and imaging markers, is rare and extension of the methods on to MinD has not been done so far. My project investigates how serum biomarkers and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data (resting state, T1 and diffusion-tensor imaging, DTI) might be combined to better understand minor depression as a prodromal state or differential diagnosis of major depression.