Orbitofrontal Cortex Response to Angry Faces in men With Histories of Suicide Attempts

Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure neural activity or response to angry & happy versus neutral faces. 13 currently euthymic men with a history of major depressive disorder & suicidal behaviour were compared with 14 currently euthymic men with a history of major depressive disorder but not of suicidal acts & 16 healthy male comparison subjects. Relative to affective comparison subjects, suicide attempters showed greater activity in the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex & decreased activity in the right superior frontal gyrus in response to prototypical angry versus neutral faces. Suicide attempters were distinguished from nonsuicidal patients by responses to angry & happy faces. (40 refs.)