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Concurrent alterations of white matter microstructure and functional activities in medication-free major depressive

Min Zeng1, Min Yu2, Guiqiang Qi1

  • 1Department of Radiology, Pidu District People's Hospital, Chengdu, 625014, Chengdu, China.

Brain Imaging and Behavior
|November 6, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Major depressive disorder (MDD) shows concurrent structural and functional brain changes. Decreased white matter integrity in the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF I) correlates with altered brain activity, indicating structural disruptions underlie functional abnormalities in MDD.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Radiology
  • Psychiatry

Background:

  • Major depressive disorder (MDD) involves known structural and functional brain alterations.
  • Previous research often studied these changes using unimodal diffusion MRI or functional MRI separately.
  • The relationship between microstructural changes and functional activity in MDD remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate concurrent alterations in white matter microstructure and functional activities in medication-free MDD patients.
  • To explore the associations between microstructural integrity and functional brain activity in MDD.
  • To identify potential imaging biomarkers for MDD.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) for white matter microstructure analysis.
  • Employed fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and degree centrality (DC) for functional activity assessment.
  • Compared 27 medication-free MDD patients with 54 matched healthy controls (HC).

Main Results:

  • Significantly decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) in the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF I) was observed in MDD patients compared to HC.
  • Reduced FA in SLF I correlated with decreased fALFF in the left pre/postcentral gyrus and altered DC in the right posterior cerebellum.
  • MDD patients exhibited reduced fALFF in the left pre/postcentral gyrus and increased binary/weighted DC in the right posterior cerebellum.

Conclusions:

  • Concurrent structural and functional brain changes are present in MDD.
  • Disruptions in white matter microstructure, specifically in SLF I, are linked to functional abnormalities in MDD.
  • These findings suggest that structural integrity is a key indicator of functional deficits in major depressive disorder.
Keywords:
Degree centralityFractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuationMajor depressive disorderResting-state functional magnetic resonance imagingTract-based spatial statistics

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