Study of Intrinsic Functional Connectivity from Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Female with Major Depressive Disorders

Xiaoliu Zhang1, Yingying Tang2, Shanbao Tong3, Yao Li

  • 1Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Biomedical Engineering
  • 2Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao TongUniversity School of Medicine
  • 3Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Details

11:30 - 13:30 | Fri 26 May | Emerald III, Rose, Narcissus & Jasmine | FrPS1T1.17

Session: Poster I

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with excessive self-focus and a tendency to engage in self-reflection. Women are more prone to form negative thoughts when facing problems such as social rejection. The neuroimaging study specifically on MDD females is still rare. The medial prefrontal cortex, a central node of anterior default mode network (DMN), plays an important role in the pathophysiology of MDD. In this study, we explored the inter-regional correlation feature of mPFC with whole brain through functional connectivity (FC) analysis of resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data. Increased FC with left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC_L) was found in female MDD patients compared with healthy controls. Furthermore, the FC strength of ACC_L was positively correlated with clinical scores, which implied the important role of mPFC-ACC pathway in MDD females. Moreover, decreased FC with right middle temporal gyrus (mTG_R) and left middle temporal gyrus (mTG_L) was found in MDD females, which may result from the low self-evaluation in MDD. This FC analysis may help us better understand the mechanism of MDD.