Aberrant dynamic functional connectivity of amygdala subregions in adolescents with depression

Research has indicated that aberrant amygdala connectivity is a crucial neurobiological underpinning of juvenile depression. This study aimed to further identify resting-state dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) changes between the lateral amygdala (LA), medial amygdala (MeA), and whole-brain voxels, as well as their correlations with clinical symptoms in adolescents with depression.

The bilateral LA and MeA were selected as regions of interest, and the sliding window method was applied to investigate dFC changes in 47 adolescents with depression, compared with 35 sex-, age-, and education-matched healthy controls (HCs). Subsequently, the relationship between the dFC variability values and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Simplified Coping Styles Questionnaire (SCSQ) scores in the patient group was investigated.

Compared with HCs, there was reduced dFC variability between both the left LA and left MeA and right precentral gyrus; both the right LA and right MeA and left median cingulate and paracingulate gyri; and the right MeA and right cuneus in adolescents with depression. Furthermore, the dFC variability between the right MeA and right cuneus correlated positively with negative coping scores of the SCSQ (r = 0.414, p = 0.005) in adolescents with depression.

These findings confirm abnormal dynamic functional pathways of amygdala subregions in adolescent depression, and suggest that abnormal dFC may be involved in the neural mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of adolescent depression.