Functional Breakdown of Temporoparietal Junction Interaction in High-depression Individuals: Evidence from...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Depression is characterized by impaired cognitive, affective, and social functions due to aberrant brain network interactions.
• The temporoparietal junction (TPJ), a key integration hub, shows depression-related connectivity changes, but its subregions' roles in subclinical depression are unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate temporoparietal junction (TPJ) subregional communication patterns in non-clinical individuals with high depression.
• To identify specific network alterations associated with subclinical depression using multi-metric connectivity analysis.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 586 young adults were analyzed.
• Participants were categorized into high-depression (HD) and low-depression (LD) groups based on Beck Depression Inventory scores.
• Temporoparietal junction (TPJ) was parcellated into anterior, posterior, and ventral subregions; multi-metric connectivity (FC, TI, GC) was compared between groups using SVM fusion analysis.

Main Results:

• Altered default mode network (DMN) interactions, including enhanced anterior DMN and weakened posterior DMN connectivity.
• Disrupted left TPJ connectivity with reward pathways (ventral striatum, putamen, amygdala).
• Right TPJ/left ventral TPJ hyperconnectivity with cognitive control networks (frontoparietal network, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex) and impaired intra-TPJ communication.

Conclusions:

• Temporoparietal junction (TPJ) subregions exhibit distinct dysconnectivity patterns in non-clinical depression, affecting self-referential processing, reward integration, and cognitive control.
• Multi-metric profiling of TPJ subregions suggests potential as a pathophysiological biomarker for depression.