Suicidal Behavior Is Associated with Reduced Corpus Callosum Area

Fabienne Cyprien; Philippe Courtet; Alain Malafosse; Jerome Maller; Chantal Meslin; Alain Bonafe; Emmanuelle Le Bars; Nicolas Menjot de Champfleur; Karen Ritchie; Sylvaine Artero

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.02.035

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Suicidal Behavior Is Associated with Reduced Corpus Callosum Area

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Suicidal Behavior Is Associated with Reduced Corpus Callosum Area

Fabienne Cyprien, Philippe Courtet, Alain Malafosse, Jerome Maller, Chantal Meslin, Alain Bonafe, Emmanuelle Le Bars, Nicolas Menjot de Champfleur, Karen Ritchie and Sylvaine Artero

Biological psychiatry (1969), Vol.70(4), pp.320-326

08/15/2011

DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.02.035

PMID: 21531383

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Abstract

Background: Corpus callosum (CC) size has been associated with cognitive and emotional deficits in a range of neuropsychiatric and mood disorders. As such deficits are also found in suicidal behavior, we investigated specifically the association between CC atrophy and suicidal behavior. Methods: We studied 435 right-handed individuals without dementia from a cohort of community-dwelling persons aged 65 years and over (the ESPRIT study). They were divided in three groups: suicide attempters (n = 21), affective control subjects (AC) (n = 180) without history of suicide attempt but with a history of depression, and healthy control subjects (HC) (n = 234). T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were traced to measure the midsagittal areas of the anterior, mid, and posterior CC. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to compare CC areas in the three groups. Results: Multivariate analyses adjusted for age, gender, childhood trauma, head trauma, and total brain volume showed that the area of the posterior third of CC was significantly smaller in suicide attempters than in AC (p = .020) and HC (p = .010) individuals. No significant differences were found between AC and HC. No differences were found for the anterior and mid thirds of the CC. Conclusions: Our findings emphasize a reduced size of the posterior third of the CC in subjects with a history of suicide, suggesting a diminished interhemispheric connectivity and a possible role of CC in the pathophysiology of suicidal behavior. Further studies are needed to strengthen these results and clarify the underlying cellular changes leading to these morphometric differences.

Psychiatry

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Neurosciences

Neurosciences & Neurology

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Details

Title: Subtitle: Suicidal Behavior Is Associated with Reduced Corpus Callosum Area
Creators: Fabienne Cyprien - Inserm
Philippe Courtet - Université de Montpellier
Alain Malafosse - Neuropsychiatrie : Recherche Epidemiologique et Clinique
Jerome Maller - Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research centre
Chantal Meslin - Australian National University
Alain Bonafe - Université de Montpellier
Emmanuelle Le Bars - Université de Montpellier
Nicolas Menjot de Champfleur - Université de Montpellier
Karen Ritchie - Université de Montpellier
Sylvaine Artero - Université de Montpellier
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Biological psychiatry (1969), Vol.70(4), pp.320-326
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.02.035
PMID: 21531383
NLM abbreviation: Biol Psychiatry
ISSN: 0006-3223
eISSN: 1873-2402
Publisher: Elsevier
Number of pages: 7
Grant note: Novartis Agence Nationale de la Recherche; Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) France Alzheimer regional government of Languedoc-Roussillon; Region Occitanie
Language: English
Date published: 08/15/2011
Academic Unit: Radiology
Record Identifier: 9984848419402771

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