1. Functional connectivity of the default mode network in first-episode drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorder.
- Author
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Qiu, Hui, Zhang, Lianqing, Gao, Yingxue, Zhou, Zilin, Li, Hailong, Cao, Lingxiao, Wang, Yingying, Hu, Xinyue, Liang, Kaili, Tang, Mengyue, Kuang, Weihong, Huang, Xiaoqi, and Gong, Qiyong
- Subjects
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DEFAULT mode network , *MENTAL depression , *FUNCTIONAL connectivity , *LARGE-scale brain networks , *COGNITION disorders - Abstract
Alterations in the default mode network (DMN) have been reported in major depressive disorder (MDD), well-replicated robust alterations of functional connectivity (FC) of DMN remain to be established. Investigating the functional connections of DMN at the overall and subsystem level in early MDD patients has the potential to advance our understanding of the physiopathology of this disorder. We recruited 115 first-episode drug-naïve patients with MDD and 137 demographic-matched healthy controls (HCs). We first compared FC within the DMN, within/between the DMN subsystems, and from DMN subsystems to the whole brain between groups. Subsequently, we explored correlations between clinical features and identified alterations in FC. First-episode drug-naïve patients with MDD showed significantly increased FC within the DMN, dorsal DMN and medial DMN. Each subsystem showed a distinct FC pattern with other brain networks. Increased FC between the subsystems (core DMN, dorsal DMN) and other networks was associated with more severe depressive symptoms, while medial DMN-related connectivity correlated with memory performance. The relatively large "pure" MDD sample could only be generalized to a limited population. And, atypical asymmetric FCs in the DMN related to MDD might be missed for only left-lateralized ROIs were used to avoid strong correlations between mirrored (right/left) seed regions. These findings suggest patients with early MDD showed distinct patterns of FC alterations throughout DMN and its subsystems, which were related to illness severity and illness-associated cognitive impairment, highlighting their clinical significance. • Default mode network (DMN) connectivity disruption may underline the pathology of MDD. • Functional alterations of DMN occurring at both the overall and the subsystem level in MDD. • Different FC patterns of DMN subsystems may be a possible source of heterogeneity among previous FC analyses in MDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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