Towards the development of neuroimaging biomarkers for early detection of post-stroke depression

Dr Lena Oestreich
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UQ Centre for Clinical Research and
Affiliated Research Fellow, Centre for Advanced Imaging, presents: 

Towards the development of neuroimaging biomarkers for early detection of post-stroke depression

Approximately one-third of stroke survivors develop clinical depression within the first 3-months of stroke, which dramatically reduces quality of life and hinders recovery. Despite these detrimental effects, actuate treatments for post-stroke depression are limited, which is largely due to a poor understanding of brain-based mechanisms that lead to these problems.

While previous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies were unable to define a coherent pattern of lesion locations associated with the development of depressive symptoms after stroke, several structural MRI studies in major depressive disorder have reported structural changes in the reward system and neuroinflammation to be associated with depressive symptoms. Based on these findings, we set out to investigate whether grey and white matter changes in the rewards system, together with neuroimaging markers sensitive to neuroinflammation, are also involved in the development of post-stroke depression. In this seminar talk, I will present important structural changes in the reward system associated with post-stroke depression and discuss the role of neuroinflammatory processes involved in depressive symptom development. I will also describe the potential of translating these imaging markers into biomarkers for early detection of post-stroke depression.

- Dr Lena Oestreich