Beck Depression Inventory factors related to demyelinating lesions of the left arcuate fasciculus region

This study was conducted to further establish the significance of the previ ously reported association between depressive symptoms and demyelinating le sions in the region of the left arcuate fasciculus in multiple sclerosis pa tients. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was broken down into its main s ymptom categories on the basis of well-established factor analyses from the literature, and the correlation pattern between the resulting BDI subscore s and lesion measurements was analyzed. We found that lesions of the left a rcuate fasciculus region were selectively associated with BDI items express ing patients' Affective Symptoms and Somatic Complaints. Specifically, lesi on measurements from this brain location accounted for 26% of symptom score variance of the BDI part that includes only these two factors. Performance Difficulties and Cognitive Distortions were not consistently associated wi th the lesion measurement. Performance Difficulties, however, showed a high correlation with the neurologic deficit detected in the physical examinati on. These results show that lesions in the left arcuate fasciculus region a re associated with the core of the depressive syndrome rather than marginal symptoms and, thus, further suggest that this left suprainsular brain regi on involves white matter tracts relevant to mood regulation. (C) 2000 Elsev ier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.