Associations between anterior cingulate thickness, cingulum bundle microstructure, melancholia and depression severity in unipolar depression

Abstract Aims In the search for effective therapeutic strategies for depression, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) emerged as a non-invasive, promising treatment. This is because the antidepressant effect of rTMS might be related to neuronal plasticity mechanisms possibly reverting connectivity alterations often observed in depression. Therefore, in this review, we aimed at providing an overview of the findings reported by studies investigating functional and structural connectivity changes after rTMS in depression. Methods A bibliographic search was conducted on PubMed, including studies that used unilateral, excitatory (⩾10 Hz) rTMS treatment targeted on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in unipolar depressed patients. Results The majority of the results showed significant TMS-induced changes in functional connectivity (FC) between areas important for emotion regulation, including the DLPFC and the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, and among regions that are part of the major resting-state networks, such as the Default Mode Network, the Salience Networks and the Central Executive Network. Finally, in diffusion tensor imaging studies, it has been reported that rTMS appeared to increase fractional anisotropy in the frontal lobe. Limitations The small sample size, the heterogeneity of the rTMS stimulation parameters, the concomitant use of psychotropic drugs might have limited the generalisability of the results. Conclusions Overall, rTMS treatment induces structural and FC changes in brain regions and networks implicated in the pathogenesis of unipolar depression. However, whether these changes underlie the antidepressant effect of rTMS still needs to be clarified.

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Modulation of anterior cingulate cortex reward and penalty signalling in medication-naive young-adult subjects with depressive symptoms following acute dose lurasidone

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291718003306 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 49 (08) ◽

pp. 1365-1377 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Selina A. Wolke ◽

Mitul A. Mehta ◽

Owen O'Daly ◽

Fernando Zelaya ◽

Nada Zahreddine ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽

Cingulate Cortex ◽

Reward Processing ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Depression Severity ◽

Placebo Condition ◽

Double Blind ◽

Monetary Incentive Delay ◽

Reward Functions

AbstractBackgroundAberrations in reward and penalty processing are implicated in depression and putatively reflect altered dopamine signalling. This study exploits the advantages of a placebo-controlled design to examine how a novel D2antagonist with adjunctive antidepressant properties modifies activity in the brain's reward network in depression.MethodsWe recruited 43 medication-naïve subjects across the range of depression severity (Beck's Depression Inventory-II score range: 0–43), including healthy volunteers, as well as people meeting full-criteria for major depressive disorder. In a double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over design, all subjects received either placebo or lurasidone (20 mg) across two visits separated by 1 week. Functional magnetic resonance imaging with the Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task assessed reward functions via neural responses during anticipation and receipt of gains and losses. Arterial spin labelling measured cerebral blood flow (CBF) at rest.ResultsLurasidone altered fronto-striatal activity during anticipation and outcome phases of the MID task. A significant three-way Medication-by-Depression severity-by-Outcome interaction emerged in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) after correction for multiple comparisons. Follow-up analyses revealed significantly higher ACC activation to losses in high-v.low depression participants in the placebo condition, with a normalisation by lurasidone. This effect could not be accounted for by shifts in resting CBF.ConclusionsLurasidone acutely normalises reward processing signals in individuals with depressive symptoms. Lurasidone's antidepressant effects may arise from reducing responses to penalty outcomes in individuals with depressive symptoms.

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Subclinical depression severity is associated with distinct patterns of functional connectivity for subregions of anterior cingulate cortex

Journal of Psychiatric Research ◽

10.1016/j.jpsychires.2015.10.005 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 71 ◽

pp. 103-111 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Carissa L. Philippi ◽

Julian C. Motzkin ◽

Maia S. Pujara ◽

Michael Koenigs

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽

Cingulate Cortex ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Depression Severity ◽

Subclinical Depression

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Anterior cingulate cortex, insula and amygdala seed-based whole brain resting-state functional connectivity differentiates bipolar from unipolar depression

Journal of Affective Disorders ◽

10.1016/j.jad.2020.05.005 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 274 ◽

pp. 38-47 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hua Yu ◽

Ming-Li Li ◽

Yin-Fei Li ◽

Xiao-Jing Li ◽

Yajing Meng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽

Resting State ◽

Unipolar Depression ◽

Cingulate Cortex ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽

Whole Brain

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Organisation of cingulum bundle fibres connecting the anterior thalamic nuclei with the rodent anterior cingulate and retrosplenial cortices

Brain and Neuroscience Advances ◽

10.1177/2398212820957160 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

pp. 239821282095716

Author(s):

Emma J. Bubb ◽

Andrew J. D. Nelson ◽

Thomas C. Cozens ◽

John P. Aggleton

Keyword(s):

Internal Capsule ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Brain Atlas ◽

Thalamic Nuclei ◽

Major Pathway ◽

Cingulum Bundle ◽

Reciprocal Connections ◽

Thalamic Projections ◽

Anterior Thalamic Nuclei ◽

Rats And Mice

Despite considerable interest in the properties of the cingulum bundle, descriptions of the composition of this major pathway in the rodent brain have not kept pace with advances in tract tracing. Using complementary approaches in rats and mice, this study examined the dense, reciprocal connections the anterior thalamic nuclei have with the cingulate and retrosplenial cortices, connections thought to be major contributors to the rodent cingulum bundle. The rat data came from a mixture of fluorescent and viral tracers, some injected directly into the bundle. The mouse data were collated from the Allen Mouse Brain Atlas. The projections from the three major anterior thalamic nuclei occupied much of the external medullary stratum of the cingulum bundle, where they were concentrated in its more medial portions. These anterior thalamic projections formed a rostral-reaching basket of efferents prior to joining the cingulum bundle, with anteromedial efferents taking the most rostral routes, often reaching the genu of the corpus callosum, while anterodorsal efferents took the least rostral route. In contrast, the return cortico-anterior thalamic projections frequently crossed directly through the bundle or briefly joined the internal stratum of the cingulum bundle, often entering the internal capsule before reaching the anterior thalamus. These analyses confirm that anterior thalamic connections comprise an important component of the rodent cingulum bundle, while also demonstrating the very different routes used by thalamo-cortical and cortico-thalamic projections. This information reveals how the composition of the cingulum bundle alters along its length.

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Aberrant levels of cortical myelin distinguish individuals with unipolar depression from healthy controls

10.1101/2021.02.25.21252472 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

David AA Baranger ◽

Yaroslav O Halchenko ◽

Skye Satz ◽

Rachel Ragozzino ◽

Satish Iyengar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽

Cross Validation ◽

Model Performance ◽

Unipolar Depression ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Regularized Regression ◽

Linear Discriminant ◽

True Label ◽

Auditory Cortices

The association of unipolar depression (UD), relative to healthy controls (HC), with cortical myelin is underexplored, despite growing evidence of associations with white matter tract integrity. We characterized cortical myelin in the 360 Glasser atlas regions using the T1w/T2w ratio in 39 UD and 47 HC participants (ages=19-44, 75% female). A logistic elastic net regularized regression with nested cross-validation and a subsequent linear discriminant analysis conducted on held-out samples were used to classify UD vs. HC. True-label model performance was compared against permuted-label model performance. Cortical myelin distinguished UD from HC with 68% accuracy (p<0.001; sensitivity=63.8%, specificity=71.5%). Consistently selected regions were located in the orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, extended visual, and auditory cortices, and showed statistically significant both decreases and increases in myelin levels in UD vs. HC. The patterns of cortical myelin in these regions may be a biomarker of UD.

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Role of the hippocampus during logical reasoning and belief bias in aging

10.1101/854208 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Maryam Ziaei ◽

Mohammad Reza Bonyadi ◽

David C. Reutens

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Logical Reasoning ◽

Syllogistic Reasoning ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Correct Rejection ◽

Reasoning Task ◽

Cingulum Bundle ◽

Hippocampal Network ◽

Reasoning Tasks

AbstractReasoning requires initial encoding of the semantic association between premises or assumptions, retrieval of these semantic associations from memory, and recombination of information to draw a logical conclusion. Currently-held beliefs can interfere with the content of the assumptions if not congruent and inhibited. This study aimed to investigate the role of the hippocampus and hippocampal networks during logical reasoning tasks in which the congruence between currently-held beliefs and assumptions varies. Participants of younger and older age completed a series of syllogistic reasoning tasks in which two premises and one conclusion were presented and they were required to decide if the conclusion logically followed the premises. The belief load of premises was manipulated to be either congruent or incongruent with currently-held beliefs. Our whole-brain results showed that older adults recruited the hippocampus during the premise integration stage more than their younger counterparts. Functional connectivity using a hippocampal seed revealed that older, but not younger, adults recruited a hippocampal network that included anterior cingulate and inferior frontal regions when premises were believable. Importantly, this network contributed to better performance in believable inferences, only in older adults group. Further analyses suggested that, in older adults group, the integrity of the left cingulum bundle was associated with the higher correct rejection of believable premises more than unbelievable ones. Using multimodal imaging, this study highlights the importance of the hippocampus during premise integration and supports the compensatory role of the hippocampal network during a logical reasoning task among older adults.

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