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Altered resting-state functional connectome in major depressive disorder: a mega-analysis from the PsyMRI consortium
Nooshin Javaheripour1,2, Meng Li1,2, Tara Chand1,2
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Philosophenweg 3, 07743, Jena, Germany.
Translational Psychiatry
|October 8, 2021
Summary
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is linked to altered brain connectivity. This study found reduced functional connectivity (FC) in sensory networks, suggesting network organization may be a stable neuroimaging marker for MDD.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is characterized by abnormal neural circuitry.
- Resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) assessing functional connectivity (FC) may identify neural markers for MDD diagnosis and treatment monitoring.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate functional alterations in MDD patients using a large, multi-center dataset.
- To identify unbiased neuroimaging markers for MDD.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a large multi-center dataset from the PsyMRI consortium (1546 participants).
- Final sample: 606 MDD patients and 476 healthy controls.
- Applied strict exclusion criteria for data analysis.
Main Results:
- MDD patients showed reduced FC within somatosensory motor (SMN) and salience (SN) networks.
- Hypoconnectivity was observed between SMN, SN, dorsal attention (DAN), and visual (VN) networks in MDD.
- No significant differences in default mode (DMN) and frontoparietal (FPN) networks were found within groups.
- MDD patients exhibited lower network segregation in the SMN.
- Medicated patients had lower FC in DMN, FPN, and SN compared to unmedicated patients, but network organization in SMN did not differ.
Conclusions:
- Cortical network organization, particularly in sensory processing networks, may serve as a more stable neuroimaging marker for MDD.
- Alterations in higher-order networks like DMN and FPN might be less stable markers compared to SMN organization.
