Depression is associated with changes in brain structure. A new major neuroimaging study found that people with depression had reduced white matter integrity. This was the largest study of its kind, and helps shed light on the biology of depression.

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Changes in the brain's structure that could be the result of depression have been identified in a major scanning study.

Alterations were found in parts of the brain known as white matter, which contains fibre tracts that enable brain cells to communicate with one another by electrical signals.

The study of more than 3000 people - the largest of its type to date - sheds light on the biology of depression and could help in the search for better diagnosis and treatment.

A quality of the matter - known as white matter integrity - was reduced in people who reported symptoms indicative of depression.

"This study uses data from the largest single sample published to date and shows that people with depression have changes in the white matter wiring of their brain. There is an urgent need to provide treatment for depression and an improved understanding of its mechanisms will give us a better chance of developing new and more effective methods of treatment."

The study forms part of a Wellcome Trust initiative called Stratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally, which aims to classify subtypes of depression and identify risk factors.

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