Background
Imaging studies have shown that major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with
altered activity patterns of the default mode network (DMN). However, the neural correlates
of the resting-state DMN and MDD-related pathopsychological characteristics, such
as depressive rumination and overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) phenomena,
still remain unclear.
Methods
Using independent component analysis, we analyzed resting-state functional magnetic
resonance imaging data obtained from 35 first-episode, treatment-naive young adults
with MDD and from 35 matched healthy control subjects.
Results
Patients with MDD exhibited higher levels of rumination and OGM than did the control
subjects. We observed increased functional connectivity in the anterior medial cortex
regions (especially the medial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex) and
decreased functional connectivity in the posterior medial cortex regions (especially
the posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus) in MDD patients compared with control subjects.
In the depressed group, the increased functional connectivity in the anterior medial
cortex correlated positively with rumination score, while the decreased functional
connectivity in the posterior medial cortex correlated negatively with OGM score.
Conclusions
We report dissociation between anterior and posterior functional connectivity in resting-state
DMNs of first-episode, treatment-naive young adults with MDD. Increased functional
connectivity in anterior medial regions of the resting-state DMN was associated with
rumination, whereas decreased functional connectivity in posterior medial regions
was associated with OGM. These results provide new evidence for the importance of
the DMN in the pathophysiology of MDD and suggest that abnormal DMN activity may be
an MDD trait.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 19, 2011
Accepted:
October 30,
2011
Received in revised form:
September 28,
2011
Received:
January 8,
2011
Footnotes
Authors XZ and XW contributed equally to this work.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
