White matter microstructural perturbations after total sleep deprivation in depression

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Total sleep deprivation (TSD) transiently improves depressive symptoms.
• The impact of TSD on white matter (WM) microstructure, potentially linked to its antidepressant effects, is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how TSD affects diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measures of WM microstructure in patients with depression.
• To compare these changes with those observed in healthy controls (HCs).

Main Methods:

• 48 patients with depression and 53 HCs underwent diffusion-weighted imaging and mood/rumination assessments before and after TSD.
• Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analyzed voxelwise changes in fractional anisotropy (FA) across WM pathways.

Main Results:

• Patients showed significant mood and rumination improvements post-TSD (p < 0.001).
• Patients exhibited decreased FA in the corpus callosum and anterior corona radiata post-TSD (p < 0.05, corrected).
• Differential TSD effects on FA were observed between patients and HCs in the superior corona radiata, frontal WM, and posterior thalamic radiation (p < 0.05, corrected).

Conclusions:

• TSD induces rapid, distinct WM microstructural changes in depression patients compared to HCs.
• WM tracts like the superior corona radiata and posterior thalamic radiation may serve as biomarkers for TSD's therapeutic effects.
• Changes in superior corona radiata FA correlate with reduced rumination in patients.