Brain Functional Network Alterations in Adolescents With Major Depressive Disorder and Suicidal Attempt: A...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Brain Imaging

Background:

• The neurobiological underpinnings of suicidal attempts in adolescents with depression are not well understood.
• Investigating brain functional network alterations in this population is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore differences in brain functional connectivity between adolescent patients with depression and suicidal attempts and healthy controls.
• To identify specific brain networks and regions associated with suicidality in adolescent depression.

Main Methods:

• Utilized resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in first-episode, treatment-naïve adolescent patients and matched healthy controls.
• Applied graph theory analysis to examine functional connectivity and topological alterations in brain networks.
• Correlated functional parameters with clinical characteristics, including depressive symptom severity.

Main Results:

• Adolescents with depression and suicidal attempts exhibited reduced functional connectivity in sensorimotor, default mode, cognitive control, and visual networks, as well as the cerebellum.
• Graph theory analysis indicated decreased degree centrality in the right precentral gyrus among patients.
• A negative correlation was found between depressive symptom severity and functional connectivity in the left supplementary motor cortex-inferior parietal lobule.

Conclusions:

• Functional abnormalities in critical brain networks involved in emotional regulation, cognition, and behavior were identified in depressed adolescents with suicidal attempts.
• These findings provide neurobiological evidence linking brain network dysfunction to suicidality in adolescent depression.