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Mapping Brain Microstructure and Network Alterations in Depressive Patients with Suicide Attempts Using Generalized
Vincent Chin-Hung Chen1,2, Chun-Ju Kao3, Yuan-Hsiung Tsai1,4
1School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan.
Journal of Personalized Medicine
|April 3, 2021
Summary
Brain imaging reveals significant white matter differences in depressed individuals, particularly those with a history of suicide attempts. These structural and network alterations highlight key neurological factors in depression and suicidality.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Depressive disorder is a major global health issue, often chronic and linked to increased suicide risk.
- Altered brain structure and networks are implicated in suicidality among depressed patients.
- Diffusion MRI offers a noninvasive way to study white matter integrity.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate neurological structural and network differences in depressed patients with suicide attempts.
- Utilize generalized q-sampling imaging (GQI) to compare depressed patients with and without suicide history to healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Recruited 155 participants: 44 depressed with suicide attempts (SA), 56 depressed without (D), and 55 healthy controls (HC).
- Employed GQI to analyze generalized fractional anisotropy (GFA) and normalized quantitative anisotropy (NQA) via voxel-based analysis.
- Conducted graph theoretical analysis for topological parameters and network-based statistical analysis for subnetwork connectivity.
Main Results:
- Lower GFA and NQA values observed in SA and D groups compared to HC, with SA showing the lowest.
- SA group exhibited higher local segregation and lower global integration in brain networks.
- SA group showed stronger frontal and parietal subnetwork connections; D group showed stronger parietal connections than HC.
Conclusions:
- Significant differences in white matter integrity and brain network organization exist between healthy controls, depressed patients, and depressed patients with a history of suicide attempts.
- GQI-based neuroimaging can identify distinct structural and network alterations associated with suicidality in depression.
- Findings underscore the role of specific brain structural and network changes in the pathophysiology of depression and suicide risk.
