A Quantitative MRI Study of the Basal Ganglia in Depression in HIV Seropositive Men.

Unlabelled: HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infection is associated with high rates of depressive symptomatology. There is evidence that such infection is associated with damage to the basal ganglia. It has also been suggested that the basal ganglia are implicated in the aetiology of affective disorders.

Objective: This study examined the association between basal ganglia atrophy and depression in HIV seropositive men. We hypothesized that depressed HIV seropositive patients would have smaller basal ganglia compared with nondepressed HIV positive comparison subjects.

Method: Using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques we compared for the basal ganglia volumes of sixteen depressed, and sixteen group-matched nondepressed HIV seropositive homosexual men.

Results: We found no significant difference in basal ganglia volumes between the two groups.

Conclusions: We suggest that depression, at least in the early stages of HIV infection, is not associated with basal ganglia atrophy.