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White-matter hyperintensities found on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are prominent in late-life depression and are thought to indicate areas of deteriorating myelination. Patterns of depressive symptoms related to white-matter hyperintensities resemble those associated with what has been called “vascular depression” in the elderly (JW Psychiatry Dec 13 2010). These researchers examined the interaction of these hyperintensities with brain function in late-life depression. The participants were 33 untreated, depressed patients and 27 nondepressed controls (mean ages, 67.7 and 71.6, respectively).
Tests included structural MRI to measure whole-brain hyperintensities and functional MRI to reveal brain activations in response to emotion-laden …