Aberrant functional connectivity in depression as an index of state and trait rumination

David Rosenbaum,Ann-Christine Ehlis,Alina Haipt,Andreas J Fallgatter,Anil Batra,Florian G Metzger,Kristina Fuhr,Hans-Christoph Nuerk,Florian B Haeussinger

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-02277-z

Abstract

Depression has been shown to be related to a variety of aberrant brain functions and structures. Particularly the investigation of alterations in functional connectivity (FC) in major depressive disorder (MDD) has been a promising endeavor, since a better understanding of pathological brain networks may foster our understanding of the disease. However, the underling mechanisms of aberrant FC in MDD are largely unclear. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) we investigated FC in the cortical parts of the default mode network (DMN) during resting-state in patients with current MDD. Additionally, we used qualitative and quantitative measures of psychological processes (e.g., state/trait rumination, mind-wandering) to investigate their contribution to differences in FC between depressed and non-depressed subjects. Our results indicate that 40% of the patients report spontaneous rumination during resting-state. Depressed subjects showed reduced FC in parts of the DMN compared to healthy controls. This finding was linked to the process of state/trait rumination. While rumination was negatively correlated with FC in the cortical parts of the DMN, mind-wandering showed positive associations.

Highlights

Depression has been shown to be related to a variety of aberrant brain functions and structures
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of state and trait rumination on differences in functional connectivity (FC) between depressed and non-depressed subjects
As expected from our previous findings[6] and the observed anti-correlation between Cognitive Control Network (CCN) and DMN20, we found reduced FC within regions of the default mode network (DMN) in the depressed sample compared to the non-depressed sample

Summary

Introduction

Depression has been shown to be related to a variety of aberrant brain functions and structures. The investigation of alterations in functional connectivity (FC) in major depressive disorder (MDD) has been a promising endeavor, since a better understanding of pathological brain networks may foster our understanding of the disease. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) we investigated FC in the cortical parts of the default mode network (DMN) during resting-state in patients with current MDD. Depressed subjects showed reduced FC in parts of the DMN compared to healthy controls This finding was linked to the process of state/trait rumination. The study of aberrant functional and structural connectivity in depression has become a promising endeavor for the understanding of maladaptive processes underlying its psychopathology. The analysis of FC in resting-state and task conditions has revealed aberrant function in various brain networks in Major Depressive.

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