Anhedonia and depression severity dissociated by dmPFC resting-state functional connectivity in adolescents.

Ciara Mccabe,Ewelina Rzepa

doi:10.1177/0269881118799935

Abstract

Introduction:Given the heterogeneity within depression, in this study we aim to examine how resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) in adolescents is related to anhedonia and depression severity on a continuum in line with the research domain criteria (RDoC) approach.Methods:We examined how RSFC in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC) was related to anhedonia and depression severity in 86 adolescents (13–21 years).Results:We found both anhedonia and depression severity related to decreased dmPFC RSFC with the precuneus, a part of the default mode network. However we also found that increased dmPFC connectivity with the ACC/paracingulate gyrus related to anhedonia whereas increased RSFC with the frontal pole related to depression severity.Discussion:This work extends the view that the dmPFC is a potential therapeutic target for depression in two ways: 1. We report dmPFC connectivity in adolescents; and 2. We show different dmPFC RSFC specific to anhedonia and depression severity, providing neural targets for intervention in young people at risk of depression.

Highlights

Given the heterogeneity within depression, in this study we aim to examine how resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) in adolescents is related to anhedonia and depression severity on a continuum in line with the research domain criteria (RDoC) approach
The aim of our study was to investigate how RSFC was related to a range of depression and anhedonia symptoms in adolescents
We found anticipatory anhedonia related to increased dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) RSFC with the ACC/paracingulate gyrus, a part of the salience network (SN), across all participants

Summary

Introduction

Given the heterogeneity within depression, in this study we aim to examine how resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) in adolescents is related to anhedonia and depression severity on a continuum in line with the research domain criteria (RDoC) approach. Methods: We examined how RSFC in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC) was related to anhedonia and depression severity in 86 adolescents (13–21 years). It has been suggested that the dysfunction in these networks in patients with MDD may be due to poor attentional control over emotional stimuli Studies have found both increased and decreased SN and CEN RSFC in depression (Horn et al, 2010; Manoliu et al, 2014b; Ramasubbu et al, 2014; Sheline et al, 2010; Tahmasian et al, 2013; Ye et al, 2012). The authors concluded that, as the fronto-limbic circuit and the DMN were each functionally altered, these two networks may contribute, respectively, to emotional dysregulation and maladaptive cognitive patterns (Zhong et al, 2016)

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