Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Depressive symptoms in the elderly are common and disabling and constitute a risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). One hypothesis worth exploring is that depression in the elderly is related to development of AD pathology at subcortical sites before such pathology develops in the hippocampus and neocortex. We describe here an autopsy study of the locus ceruleus (LC) and raphe nuclei (RN) in nine subjects with depression and 18 age and sex matched controls that were included in a community-based study of cognitive function and ageing (MRC-CFAS). We found no relationship between depression and (1) mean counts of serotonergic or total RN neuronal profiles (2) noradrenergic or total LC neuronal profiles (3) counts of neurofibrillary tangles in these nuclei, or (4) size of neurones in the RN. Nor were these parameters related to age or sex of the subjects. We conclude that depression in the elderly is unlikely to be related to RN or LC neurone counts or RN cell size or to AD-type pathology in these nuclei. However, because of the small numbers of cases studied and our inability to carry out a full stereological study because of tissue limitations the findings are preliminary.

Original publication

DOI

10.1111/j.1365-2990.2005.00662.x

Type

Journal article

Journal

Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol

Publication Date

08/2005

Volume

31

Pages

405 - 413

Keywords

Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cell Count, Depression, Female, Humans, Locus Coeruleus, Male, Neurofibrillary Tangles, Neurons, Raphe Nuclei