The cerebral blood flow (CBF) is an absolute measure that superior to the relative measure of neural activity, blood oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD). The previous studies have reported CBF abnormalities in the adult depressive patients. However, it is not clear whether the abnormal CBF could be improved in the remitted geriatric depression (RGD).

We enrolled 82 RGD patients and 90 age and education matched healthy controls. All the subjects underwent 3-T MRI with pseudo arterial spin labeling (pASL), and the pASL data were analysis voxel-by-voxel with control the gray matter volume.

Compared with the healthy controls, the RGD patients demonstrated higher relative CBF value in left inferior temporal gyrus and left precuneus; while lower relative CBF value in right medial temporal and occipital cortex, right insula operculum (including parts of frontal, temporal and parietal cortex) and insula, right medial frontal cortex. When compared with the remitted early onset depression (EOD), the remitted late onset depression (LOD) showed lowed relative CBF value in right angular gyrus. While there was no significantly different relative CBF value between the RGD patients accompany with MCI and RGD patients with cognitive normal.

The late life depression persists with CBF abnormalities in the remitted state. And it is implicit that hyperperfusion in the left brain cortex and hypoperfusion in the right brain cortex could be the specific form to RGD patients.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.