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Specific genetic polymorphisms and early-life adversity (ELA) are risk factors for major depression, affect key neural substrates in depression, and appear to interact to increase depression risk. Because the minor T allele on the BICC1 gene was identified as a candidate protective allele in a genome-wide depression study, researchers examined the interaction between the T allele, ELA, hippocampal volume, and the emotion-regulation system in 44 patients with major depression and 44 healthy controls.
Among patients and controls without ELA, T-allele carriers had larger right hippocampal body volumes than C homozygotes. Among patients with ELA, volume of the right hippocampal head on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was smaller in patients wit…