Abnormalities of brain function and their relationship to cognitive deficits in major depressive disorder patients...

Emerging evidence indicates that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is highly prevalent in major depressive disorder (MDD) and exacerbates cognitive dysfunction. However, the potential functional brain alterations in MDD patients with comorbid OSA remain underexplored in neuroimaging research. This investigation focused on functional brain modifications related to comorbid OSA in MDD, as well as to explore potential correlations with cognitive dysfunction.

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-MRI), polysomnography, event-related potential (ERP), and cognitive function (the prospective memory, the Continuous Performance Task-Identical Pairs, the digital span test) data were obtained from 32 MDD cases with comorbid OSA and 42 well-matched non-OSA MDD controls. We collected brain function metrics, including regional homogeneity (ReHo) and functional connectivity (FC), from all participants.

Relative to non-OSA MDD controls, MDD cases with comorbid OSA manifested worse in sustained attention, working memory, and prospective memory, had longer P300 wave latencies, had significantly higher ReHo in the Cerebellum_Crus1_L and lower ReHo in the Cerebellum_8_R, and had greater FC involving the Cerebellum_Crus1_L and bilateral lingual gyri. In addition, correlation analyses indicated that changes in ReHo and FC were associated with cognitive variables, including sustained attention and P300 latency, only in MDD patients with OSA.

Comorbid OSA in MDD is linked to cerebellar function and cerebellar-cerebral connectivity dysregulation, highlighting its potential role as an independent contributor to attentional and neurophysiological deficits. These findings emphasize the clinical imperative for longitudinal studies investigating the specific neuropathological mechanisms of OSA and for implementing interventions, thereby offering potential management of MDD comorbidities.

not applicable.