Prefrontal cortex and depression

Abstract

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) has emerged as one of the regions most consistently impaired in major depressive disorder (MDD). Although functional and structural PFC abnormalities have been reported in both individuals with current MDD as well as those at increased vulnerability to MDD, this information has not translated into better treatment and prevention strategies. Here, we argue that dissecting depressive phenotypes into biologically more tractable dimensionsnegative processing biases, anhedonia, despair-like behavior (learned helplessness)affords unique opportunities for integrating clinical findings with mechanistic evidence emerging from preclinical models relevant to depression, and thereby promises to improve our understanding of MDD. To this end, we review and integrate clinical and preclinical literature pertinent to these core phenotypes, while emphasizing a systems-level approach, treatment effects, and whether specific PFC abnormalities are causes or consequences of MDD. In addition, we discuss several key issues linked to cross-species translation, including functional brain homology across species, the importance of dissecting neural pathways underlying specific functional domains that can be fruitfully probed across species, and the experimental approaches that best ensure translatability. Future directions and clinical implications of this burgeoning literature are discussed.

Regional, circuit, and network heterogeneity of brain abnormalities in psychiatric disorders

“…Our spatial permutation test allowed us to evaluate the degree to which circuit and networklevel overlap was explained by group differences in total deviation burden. At the circuit level, prefrontal regions were identified as showing greater overlap compared to controls in all clinical groups at 𝑝 $%&'(()&*)+ < .05, consistent with extensive evidence for prefrontal dysfunction in each condition [73][74][75] . However, only regions of right and left lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) in MDD and BD, respectively, survived FDR-correction.…”

“…The lateral PFC is thought to play an important role in cognitive control 76 , with cognitive control deficits commonly reported in both MDD 77 and BP 78 . Extensive literature has strongly implicated lateral PFC dysfunction in affective disorders generally 79,80 and in association to disorder-related cognitive control deficits using task-based fMRI studies 73 . Moreover, dorsolateral PFC is typically used as a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) target site to treat depressive symptoms in MDD 81 and BP 82 and has been implicated by lesion network mapping as a core site explaining the emergence of depression following stroke 47 .…”

Post-Discharge Depression Status for Survivors of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO): Comparison of Veno-Venous ECMO and Veno-Arterial ECMO

“…The mental health of all ECMO patients is worthy of the attention of healthcare professionals. Therefore, we strongly encourage researchers in the fields of neuroscience and neuropsychiatry to examine the neurophysiological impact of ECMO on areas of the prefrontal cortex, which has been shown to be involved in depression [ 57 ]. Second, the use of NIBS techniques should be investigated as a valid alternative in the treatment of those patients that do not respond to psychotherapy and/or drug treatments [ 58 ].…”

A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Examination of the Neural Correlates of Mental Rotation for Individuals With Different Depressive Tendencies

“…Individuals with depression disorder have some specific brain cortex. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) has emerged as one of the regions most consistently impaired in major depressive disorder (Pizzagalli and Roberts, 2021). Brain structures altered in depression are part of several connectivity networks, such as in the Default Mode Network (DMN) and the Cognitive Control Network (CCN) (Gudayol-Ferré et al, 2015).…”