Psychophysiology Article Abstract

Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 2017, 4(1):32-42.

Neuroanatomical correlates of familial risk-for-depression and religiosity/spirituality

Jie Liu^{a,*,^}, Connie Svob^a,b,*, Priya Wickramaratne^a,b,c, Xuejun Hao^a,d, Ardesheer Talati^a,b, Jürgen Kayser^a,e, Craig Tenke^a,e, Virginia Warner^b, Jie Yang^a,b, Micheline Anderson^f, Myrna M. Weissman^a,b,c

^aDepartment of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA;
^bDivision of Epidemiology, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA;
^cMailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA;
^dDivision of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA;
^eDivision of Cognitive Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA;
^fTeachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY

^*These authors contributed equally to this work.
^{^}Dr. Liu conducted these analyses while working at Columbia University.

Received 12 October 2016; revised 5 December 2016; accepted 12 December 2016; published 19 April 2017.

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 grey matter volume.

Measures, Participants, and Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were collected on 106 second generation 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. 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 familial depression, and extend the findings to include an association between R/S importance and greater pial surface area. Moreover, the findings suggest that these cortical changes may confer protective benefits to religious/spiritual individuals that are at high risk for depression.

Keywords: Depression; Religion/spirituality; Functional magnetic imaging (MRI); Cortical thickness; Pial surface

doi:10.1037/scp0000123

psychophysiology article abstract