Spatio-temporal dynamics of brain function across depression severity in binge-type eating disorders

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Binge-eating disorders (BEDs) involve complex spatio-temporal neural dynamics.
• Functional connectivity (FC) and intrinsic neural timescales (INT) are key metrics for assessing brain function.
• The impact of comorbid depression on these neural dynamics in BEDs remains under-investigated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate abnormalities in FC and INT within visual-related brain regions in patients with BEDs.
• To examine how depression severity influences these neural alterations in BEDs.
• To explore correlations between neural disruptions, clinical measures, and INT in BEDs.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 72 patients with BEDs and 39 healthy controls (HCs).
• Divided BED patients into minimal/mild (Group 1) and moderate/severe depression (Group 2) groups.
• Analyzed FC using ANCOVA and INT in significant FC regions using FDR correction; examined correlations with clinical data.

Main Results:

• Seventeen brain subregions showed altered FC, with Group 2 exhibiting more pronounced disruptions than Group 1 and HCs.
• Alterations were prominent in sensorimotor, reward, and inhibitory control networks.
• Significant INT differences were found in sensorimotor and heteromodal regions between Group 2 and HCs, with trend-level correlations observed.

Conclusions:

• FC and INT disruptions in visual-related regions are present in BEDs.
• Depression severity significantly aggravates these neural disruptions in BEDs.
• Findings highlight the critical role of comorbid depression in the neural pathophysiology of BEDs.