Background
Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been shown to be associated with a disrupted topological
organization of functional brain networks. However, little is known regarding whether
these changes have a structural basis. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) enables comprehensive
whole-brain mapping of the white matter tracts that link regions distributed throughout
the entire brain, the so-called human connectome.
Methods
We examined whole-brain structural networks in a cohort of 95 MDD outpatients and
102 matched control subjects. Structural networks were represented by an 84 × 84 connectivity
matrix representing probabilistic white matter connections between 84 parcellated
cortical and subcortical regions using DTI tractography. Network-based statistics
were used to assess differences in the interregional connectivity matrix between the
two groups, and graph theory was used to examine overall topological organization.
Results
Our network-based statistics analysis demonstrates lowered structural connectivity
within two distinct brain networks that are present in depression: the first primarily
involves the regions of the default mode network and the second comprises the frontal
cortex, thalamus, and caudate regions that are central in emotional and cognitive
processing. These two altered networks were observed in the context of an overall
preservation of topology as reflected as no significant group differences for the
graph-theory measures.
Conclusions
This is the first report to use DTI to show the structural connectomic alterations
present in MDD. Our findings highlight that altered structural connectivity between
nodes of the default mode network and the frontal-thalamo-caudate regions are core
neurobiological features associated with MDD.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 10, 2014
Accepted:
February 13,
2014
Received in revised form:
February 12,
2014
Received:
December 10,
2013
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
ScienceDirect
Access this article on ScienceDirectLinked Article
- Connectomics Reveals Faulty Wiring Patterns for Depressed BrainBiological PsychiatryVol. 76Issue 7
- PreviewUncovering the neural basis of psychiatric and neurological disorders is the foundation for the development of diagnosis and treatment programs. While disorder-related changes in focal brain areas and specific brain connections have been scrutinized, a recently developed research framework—human brain connectomics (1)—offers the opportunity to study the brain as a complex, integrative network. In a nutshell, a brain network can be constructed on the basis of connections (edges) among brain regions (nodes) derived from a variety of imaging data.
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