Abnormal functional connectivity of the habenula in mild cognitive impairment patients with depression symptoms revealed by resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

Background: Recent research suggests that abnormalities in the habenula (HB), a core area of the brain that transmits reward information, may be a determinant of depression. However, it is not clear whether the functional connectivity (FC) pattern of the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with and without depression symptoms is abnormal. Methods:In this study, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the FC pattern of the HB in MCI patients with depression symptoms (D-MCI). We acquired fMRI data from 54 subjects on a 3T MRI. Subjects collected included 16 patients with D-MCI, 18 patients with MCI with no depression, and 20 healthy controls. One way ANCOVA and post hoc t-test were used to compare the difference in FC strength between the three groups. Results:The D-MCI group had altered FC between the left HB and the right superior temporal gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus/opercular part, and right middle frontal gyrus. The D-MCI group had increased FC between the right HB and precuneus.Conclusions: These results suggest that the dysfunction of the HB-Default model network might be involved in the neural mechanism underlying depression in MCI.

The Habenula in Mood Disorders: A Scoping Review of Human Studies

“…As for Barreiros and colleagues (2022), they reported higher RSFC between the left habenula and the right precuneus in TRD patients compared to HCs and patients who were sensitive to treatment. Another study found that RSFC between the right habenula and the bilateral precuneus was higher in depressed patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) compared to patients who had MCI but were not depressed (Cao et al, 2023). In this study, however, no between-group difference was found for the left habenula.…”

“…Overall, four studies were similar enough to be compared (Cao et al, 2023;Ely et al, 2016;Qiao et al, 2020;Su et al, 2024). Among these studies, two found that depressed patients had lower RSFC between the habenula and the IFG (Cao et al, 2023;Su et al, 2024). One caveat is that in one study the results pertained to the left habenula, while they pertained to the right habenula in the other study.…”

“…One study found that in depressed patients with MCI, compared to HCs and patients with MCI who were not depressed, there was a lower RSFC between the left habenula and the right IFG (Cao et al, 2023). Similarly, in the study conducted by Su and colleagues (2024), patients with late-life depression (LLD), compared to HCs, had reduced RSFC between the right habenula and the bilateral IFG.…”

“…In another study, they found that dFC between the left habenula and the left IFG was weaker in MDD patients than in HCs (Zhu et al, 2023). Overall, four studies were similar enough to be compared (Cao et al, 2023;Ely et al, 2016;Qiao et al, 2020;Su et al, 2024). Among these studies, two found that depressed patients had lower RSFC between the habenula and the IFG (Cao et al, 2023;Su et al, 2024).…”

“…On the one hand, there is one study that found lower RSFC between the habenula and precuneus in depression (Yang, Jin et al, 2022) and another that found lower RSFC between these two regions only in MDD patients with suicidal ideation (Qiao et al, 2020). On the other hand, two studies found increased RSFC between habenula and precuneus in MDD (Barreiros et al, 2022;Cao et al, 2023). In the fifth study, baseline RSFC between both habenulas and the left precuneus was higher in eventual responders compared to eventual non-responders to ketamine treatment (Wang, Chen et al, 2022).…”