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Altered functional connectivity and network efficiency in prenatal depression: an functional near-infrared
Zicong Zheng1, Xuejiao Li2, Huirong Lei2
1School of Electronic and Information Engineering, South China University of Technology, No. 381 Wushan Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
This study investigated the impact of prenatal depression on brain function in pregnant women using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Functional signals were recorded during resting-state and sadness/happiness video stimulus tasks in prenatal depression group (n = 22) and healthy controls (n = 31). Compared with controls, the prenatal depression group showed a significantly lower mean total hemoglobin (HbT) signal in the visual cortex (P = 0.029) during the resting-state condition, as well as the HbT slope of the primary motor cortex (P = 0.035) under the happiness video stimulus. Deoxyhemoglobin-based functional connectivity analysis showed that, during the sadness video stimulus, the prenatal depression group exhibited reduced connectivity between the left motor area and the left prefrontal cortex (-0.019 ± 0.077 vs. 0.098 ± 0.124, P = 0.0031) as well as the right prefrontal cortex (-0.038 ± 0.086 vs. 0.081 ± 0.134, P = 0.0127). Graph theory analysis showed higher characteristic path length and lower global efficiency in the prenatal depression group than in controls, under both sadness (all P < 0.01) and happiness (all P < 0.05) conditions. These findings indicate altered regional brain activity patterns in pregnant women with prenatal depression, providing insight into the neural mechanisms underlying prenatal depression.
This study investigated the impact of prenatal depression on brain function in pregnant women using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Functional signals were recorded during resting-state and sadness/happiness video stimulus tasks in prenatal depression group (n = 22) and healthy controls (n = 31). Compared with controls, the prenatal depression group showed a significantly lower mean total hemoglobin (HbT) signal in the visual cortex (P = 0.029) during the resting-state condition, as well as the HbT slope of the primary motor cortex (P = 0.035) under the happiness video stimulus. Deoxyhemoglobin-based functional connectivity analysis showed that, during the sadness video stimulus, the prenatal depression group exhibited reduced connectivity between the left motor area and the left prefrontal cortex (-0.019 ± 0.077 vs. 0.098 ± 0.124, P = 0.0031) as well as the right prefrontal cortex (-0.038 ± 0.086 vs. 0.081 ± 0.134, P = 0.0127). Graph theory analysis showed higher characteristic path length and lower global efficiency in the prenatal depression group than in controls, under both sadness (all P < 0.01) and happiness (all P < 0.05) conditions. These findings indicate altered regional brain activity patterns in pregnant women with prenatal depression, providing insight into the neural mechanisms underlying prenatal depression.
