Cognitive impairment in major depressive disorder with non-suicidal self-injury: Association with the functional...

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) may be related to serious cognitive impairment in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), but the specific mechanism is still unclear. This study attempts to identify the neurobiological process alterations of cognitive impairment in MDD patients with NSSI by examining the functional connectivity of the frontotemporal cortex in MDD patients with or without NSSI.

Thirty MDD patients with NSSI, 36 MDD patients without NSSI, and 35 healthy controls (HC) were included in the study. The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was used to comprehensively assess the cognitive function of the subjects and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to detect the functional connectivity of the frontotemporal cortex and its brain regions of interest.

MDD patients with or without NSSI had multi-domain cognitive impairments. MDD patients with NSSI showed the lowest score in performance of attention/alertness and the weakest functional connectivity of frontotemporal when compared with the MDD patients without NSSI and the HC. In addition, the functional connectivity of the bilateral frontotemporal cortex was positively correlated with verbal learning and working memory in MDD patients with NSSI.

In MDD patients, the appearance of NSSI is often accompanied by further impairment of attention/alertness and a decline in functional connectivity of the frontotemporal cortex. The impairment of verbal learning and working memory was associated with decreased functional connectivity of the frontotemporal cortex in MDD patients with NSSI.