Promising Neuroimaging Biomarkers in Depression

Abstract

The neuroimaging has been applied in the study of pathophysiology in major depressive disorder (MDD). In this review article, several kinds of methodologies of neuroimaging would be discussed to summarize the promising biomarkers in MDD. For the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetoencephalography field, the literature review showed the potentially promising roles of frontal lobes, such as anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). In addition, the limbic regions, such as hippocampus and amygdala, might be the potentially promising biomarkers for MDD. The structures and functions of ACC, DLPFC, OFC, amygdala and hippocampus might be confirmed as the biomarkers for the prediction of antidepressant treatment responses and for the pathophysiology of MDD. The functions of cognitive control and emotion regulation of these regions might be crucial for the establishment of biomarkers. The near-infrared spectroscopy studies demonstrated that blood flow in the frontal lobe, such as the DLPFC and OFC, might be the biomarkers for the field of near-infrared spectroscopy. The electroencephalography also supported the promising role of frontal regions, such as the ACC, DLPFC and OFC in the biomarker exploration, especially for the sleep electroencephalogram to detect biomarkers in MDD. The positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in MDD demonstrated the promising biomarkers for the frontal and limbic regions, such as ACC, DLPFC and amygdala. However, additional findings in brainstem and midbrain were also found in PET and SPECT. The promising neuroimaging biomarkers of MDD seemed focused in the fronto-limbic regions.

Sex is a defining feature of neuroimaging phenotypes in major brain disorders

“…Neuroimaging hallmarks of MDD include smaller volumes in the hippocampus, amygdala, ACC, dorsolateral PFC, mPFC, and OFC, and larger volumes in the ventricles [Lai, 2019]. The ENIGMA-MDD working group confirmed these hallmarks in the largest subcortical, cortical, and white matter neuroimaging studies of MDD to date (N>8,000), yet none of these studies detected sex by diagnosis interaction effects on brain structure [Schmaal et al, 2016;Schmaal et al, 2017;van Velzen et al, 2019].…”

Brain Imaging Study on the Pathogenesis of Depression & Therapeutic Effect of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

“…5,6 Multiple studies have shown that the fronto-limbic circuit is of critical significance for the pathogenesis of depression. [7][8][9] Gray matter changes that have been identified in the fronto-limbic network for never-medicated MDD patients are closely related to the clinical symptoms including mood disorders, cognitive deficits and rumination. 2 Guo et al 10,11 studied patients with acute onset and without medication, and found that the structural deficits of MDD may unidirectionally destroy the causal topology of the cortico-limbic-cerebellar circuit.…”

CACNA1C Gene rs11832738 Polymorphism Influences Depression Severity by Modulating Spontaneous Activity in the Right Middle Frontal Gyrus in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

“…In addition to MFG_R, we found that the right CPL and ACC were also affected by MDD. The ACC is responsible for regulating stress and processing emotion and has repeatedly been shown to play an important role in MDD (31)(32)(33). The cerebellum is traditionally thought to be involved only in motor function, but in recent years, it has been increasingly recognized that the cerebellum is important for cognition and emotion (34).…”