Resting-state functional connectivity in women with Major Depressive Disorder
Angel Buchanan1, Xue Wang2, Jackie K Gollan1
1Asher Center for the Study and Treatment of Depressive Disorders, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 676 N. St. Clair St., Suite 1000, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Objective:
Limited research has focused on whole-brain functional connectivity in a well-characterized sample of subjects with current Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). We aimed to investigate resting-state functional connectivity and the extent to which this is correlated with depression severity in unmedicated depressed subjects without comorbidities.
Methods:
We utilized Independent Component Analysis (ICA) to investigate whole-brain functional connectivity in a sample of healthy controls (n = 26) and unmedicated subjects diagnosed only with current MDD (n = 20). Correlations were calculated between network connectivity strength and depression severity.
Results:
Depressed subjects demonstrated significantly decreased connectivity in the right frontoparietal (p = 0.03), left frontoparietal (p = 0.01), and language (p = 0.02) networks compared to healthy control subjects.
Conclusion:
We found abnormal resting-state functional connectivity not previously reported in MDD. Decreased connectivity in the frontoparietal and language networks may represent depression-related difficulties in attention, cognitive control, goal-directed cognition, and language. Findings from this study may further elucidate functional connectivity as a diagnostic marker of depression severity.
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