Improvement in mood and ideation associated with increase in right caudate volume

Background sal ganglia, particularly caudate, are hypothesized to play a role in affective and obsessive-compulsive disorders. The depressive syndrome is a feature of untreated Cushingʹs disease. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that after treatment of Cushingʹs disease reduces elevated cortisol, improvement in mood and related ideations are associated with increase in caudate volume. s s longitudinal, interventional study of 23 patients with Cushingʹs disease, 24-hour urinary free cortisol, structural magnetic resonance imaging and behavioral measures were obtained prior to treatment and approximately one year after pituitary microadenomectomy. Five SCL-90-R subscales measuring change in mood, related ideations and physical symptoms were utilized. s l correlations (adjusted for age and time since surgery) showed change in caudate, but not hippocampal, volume was significantly associated with change in behavioral SCL-90-R subscales, indicating selectivity for structure. Right but not left caudate showed associations, suggesting selectivity for lateralization. Right caudate volume increase was significantly associated with decreases in Depression, Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive, and Paranoid scores, but not with Somatization (physical symptoms), indicating specificity for behavioral but not physical variables. tions tation is that relatively low-resolution scans were utilized. Although most likely not diminishing the significant findings, less sensitive methodology could lead to an increased probability of a type 2 error. sions findings support the concept that caudate, and likely right caudate, participates in human brain circuitry regulating mood.