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Vascular depression consensus report - a critical update
Aizenstein HJ, Baskys A, Boldrini M, Butters MA, Diniz BS, Jaiswal MK, Jellinger KA, Kruglov LS et al.. BMC medicine, 2016-11-03
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Discussion This diagnosis, based on clinical and MRI findings, suggests that vascular lesions lead to depression by disruption of frontal-subcortical-limbic networks involved in mood regulation. However, despite multiple MRI approaches to shed light on the spatiotemporal structural changes associated with late life depression, the causal relationship between brain changes, related lesions, and late life depression remains controversial. While postmortem studies of elderly persons who died from suicide revealed lacunes, small vessel, and Alzheimer-related pathologies, recent autopsy data challenged the role of these lesions in the pathogenesis of vascular depression.
Key findings
- Discussion This diagnosis, based on clinical and MRI findings, suggests that vascular lesions lead to depression by disruption of frontal-subcortical-limbic networks involved in mood regulation.
- However, despite multiple MRI approaches to shed light on the spatiotemporal structural changes associated with late life depression, the causal relationship between brain changes, related lesions, and late life depression remains controversial.
- While postmortem studies of elderly persons who died from suicide revealed lacunes, small vessel, and Alzheimer-related pathologies, recent autopsy data challenged the role of these lesions in the pathogenesis of vascular depression.
Why it matters
This consensus report discusses the disputed idea that vascular brain lesions cause late-life depression and notes that the causal relationship remains controversial. It does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 49/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (BMC medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | BMC Medicine: journal h-index 259 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2016 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 259 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 21.6 citations a year over 12 year(s) since 2016 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 15.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 62 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Oren Tene: h-index 13 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Columbia University: institution h-index 1,824 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 18 institution(s) in 6 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 27806704) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 49 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Aizenstein, H. J., Baskys, A., Boldrini, M., Butters, M. A., Diniz, B. S., Jaiswal, M. K., et al. (2016). Vascular depression consensus report - a critical update. BMC medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-016-0720-5
Vancouver
Aizenstein HJ, Baskys A, Boldrini M, Butters MA, Diniz BS, Jaiswal MK, et al. Vascular depression consensus report - a critical update. BMC medicine. 2016. doi:10.1186/s12916-016-0720-5. PMID: 27806704.
BibTeX
@article{aizenstein2016-27806704,
author = {Aizenstein, H. J. and Baskys, A. and Boldrini, M. and Butters, M. A. and Diniz, B. S. and Jaiswal, M. K. and Jellinger, K. A. and Kruglov, L. S. and others},
title = {{Vascular depression consensus report - a critical update}},
journal = {BMC medicine},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1186/s12916-016-0720-5},
pmid = {27806704},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-016-0720-5}
}
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