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Internal reliability of blame-related functional MRI measures in major depressive disorder
Diede Fennema1, Owen O'Daly2, Gareth J Barker2
1Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Centre for Affective Disorders, King's College London, London SE5 8AZ, UK.
Background:
In major depressive disorder (MDD), self-blame-related fMRI measures have shown the potential to be used as prognostic markers for recurrence risk. Like most potential fMRI markers, however, their reliability is unclear. Here, we probed the internal reliability of self-blame-related fMRI measures, as well as the impact of different modelling approaches on reliability metrics and validity.
Methods:
Internal consistency (i.e. split-half reliability) was calculated for blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) responses and psychophysiological interactions (PPI) related to self-blame-related biases in medication-free remitted MDD participants (n = 81) and healthy controls (n = 41). Trial-length was modelled using three durations (0, 2 and 5 s), which was convolved with the haemodynamic response function (HRF) with and without time and dispersion derivatives. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated for simple contrasts examining activation to self-blaming emotions and other-blaming emotions and the more complex contrast of the subtraction-based difference between self- and other-blaming emotions within the following a priori ROIs: right superior anterior temporal lobe seed region, anterior subgenual cingulate cortex, posterior subgenual cortex and right striatum / pallidum.
Results:
Across ROIs, we obtained fair reliability (ICC ≥ 0.40) for simple, but poor reliability (ICC < 0.40) for more complex fMRI measures related to self-blame. Despite this low internal consistency of complex measures at the individual level, we observed robust activation at the group-level, reproducing previously published results.
Conclusions:
While simple BOLD contrasts had fair reliability, previously employed PPI models had poor reliability and simple connectivity measures lacked predictive validity. This calls for the development of functional connectivity measures that strike a better balance between reliability and validity for future clinical applications, which require robust measures at the individual rather than group-level.
Insights
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measures for self-blame in major depressive disorder (MDD) show fair reliability for simple contrasts but poor reliability for complex measures. Developing more reliable and valid fMRI tools is crucial for individual clinical applications.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Neuroscience
Background:
- Self-blame-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measures show promise as prognostic markers for major depressive disorder (MDD) recurrence risk.
- However, the reliability of these fMRI markers in clinical settings remains uncertain.
- This study investigates the internal reliability of self-blame-related fMRI measures and the influence of modeling techniques on their validity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the internal reliability of blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) responses and psychophysiological interactions (PPI) related to self-blame in individuals with MDD and healthy controls.
- To evaluate the impact of different trial-length modeling durations and hemodynamic response function (HRF) modeling approaches on reliability metrics.
- To determine the validity of these fMRI measures for distinguishing between self- and other-blaming emotions.
Main Methods:
- Internal consistency (split-half reliability) was calculated for BOLD and PPI measures in 81 remitted MDD participants and 41 healthy controls.
- Three trial durations (0, 2, 5s) were modeled and convolved with HRF, with and without time/dispersion derivatives.
- Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were computed for simple and complex contrasts within predefined regions of interest (ROIs).
Main Results:
- Fair reliability (ICC ≥ 0.40) was observed for simple fMRI contrasts related to self-blame.
- Poor reliability (ICC < 0.40) was found for more complex fMRI measures assessing self-blame biases.
- Despite low individual-level consistency for complex measures, robust group-level activation was detected, consistent with prior research.
Conclusions:
- Simple BOLD contrasts exhibited fair reliability, whereas PPI models and simple connectivity measures demonstrated poor reliability and lacked predictive validity.
- Current functional connectivity measures show limitations for individual-level clinical applications due to insufficient reliability and validity.
- Future research should focus on developing novel functional connectivity measures that balance reliability and validity for robust clinical utility in major depressive disorder.
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