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This study aimed to determine whether quality of life (QOL) reflects specific functional abnormalities of frontotemporal hemodynamic responses in melancholia. We recruited 30 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) with melancholic features (MDD-MF), 52 with non-melancholic features (MDD-NMF), and 68 healthy control subjects who were matched for age, sex ratio, and years of education. QOL was assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), and regional hemodynamic responses during a verbal fluency task were monitored with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Patients with MDD-MF scored significantly lower than those with MDD-NMF on the role emotional domain of SF-36. Both MDD patient groups exhibited lower hemodynamic responses in the frontotemporal regions than the control group. Hemodynamic responses in the frontotemporal regions were significantly smaller in patients with MDD-MF than in those with MDD-NMF. The role emotional domain of patients with MDD-MF was significantly and positively correlated with hemodynamic responses in the prefrontal region, whereas that of patients with MDD-NMF revealed no significant correlation. In conclusion, our results indicate that patients with MDD-MF exhibit qualitatively distinct prefrontal dysfunction patterns associated with emotional role functioning compared with patients with MDD-NMF., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Neuroimaging studies using multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) have provided compelling evidence about the dysfunction of the frontotemporal cortices in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). However, it remains unclear whether the dysfunction is associated with mood state or symptom severity. Using NIRS, we aimed to clarify differences in oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) activation between depressive and euthymic states as well as regional brain dysfunction in relation to symptom severity in BD., Methods: Fifty-five patients with BD, including 30 with bipolar depression (BPD) and 25 with euthymic bipolar disorder (BPE), and 28 healthy controls (HCs) participated in the study. Regional hemodynamic changes during a verbal fluency task (VFT) were monitored using a 52-channel NIRS apparatus., Results: The mean oxy-Hb changes induced by VFT were significantly smaller in the BD patients than in the HCs in 18 channels in the frontotemporal regions (false-discovery rate p<0.05, p=0.000-0.011). The BPD group exhibited significantly smaller changes in mean oxy-Hb compared with the BPE group in three channels of the left temporal region (p=0.005-0.014). In the BD patients, significant negative correlations were observed between mean oxy-Hb changes in the left temporal regions and the severity of depression., Limitations: Our sample size was small, making the results susceptible to type II errors., Conclusions: BD patients have persistent hypofunction of the frontotemporal cortical regions. Moreover, the hemodynamic response in the left temporal regions is associated with symptom severity., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Previous neuroimaging studies have revealed frontal and temporal functional abnormalities in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and a history of suicidal behavior. However, it is unknown whether multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) signal changes among individuals with MDD are associated with a history of suicide attempts and a diathesis for suicidal behavior (impulsivity, hopelessness, and aggression). Therefore, we aimed to explore frontotemporal hemodynamic responses in depressed patients with a history of suicide attempts using 52-channel NIRS. We recruited 30 patients with MDD and a history of suicidal behavior (suicide attempters; SAs), 38 patient controls without suicidal behavior (non-attempters; NAs), and 40 healthy controls (HCs) matched by age, gender ratio, and estimated IQ. Regional hemodynamic responses during a verbal fluency task (VFT) were monitored using NIRS. Our results showed that severities of depression, impulsivity, aggression, and hopelessness were similar between SAs and NAs. Both patient groups had significantly reduced activation compared with HCs in the bilateral frontotemporal regions. Post hoc analyses revealed that SAs exhibited a smaller hemodynamic response in the left precentral gyrus than NAs and HCs. Furthermore, the reduced response in the left inferior frontal gyrus was negatively correlated with impulsivity level and hemodynamic responses in the right middle frontal gyrus were negatively associated with hopelessness and aggression in SAs but not in NAs and HCs. Our findings suggest that MDD patients with a history of suicide attempts demonstrate patterns of VFT-induced NIRS signal changes different from those demonstrated by individuals without a history of suicidal behaviors, even in cases where clinical symptoms are similar. NIRS has a relatively high time resolution, which may help visually differentiate SAs from NAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]