Brain Networks Connectivity in Mild to Moderate Depression: Resting State fMRI Study with Implications to Nonpharmacological Treatment

Network mechanisms of depression development and especially of improvement from nonpharmacological treatment remain understudied. The current study is aimed at examining brain networks functional connectivity in depressed patients and its dynamics in nonpharmacological treatment. Resting state fMRI data of 21 healthy adults and 51 patients with mild or moderate depression were analyzed with spatial independent component analysis; then, correlations between time series of the components were calculated and compared between-group (study 1). Baseline and repeated-measure data of 14 treated (psychotherapy or fMRI neurofeedback) and 15 untreated depressed participants were similarly analyzed and correlated with changes in depression scores (study 2). Aside from diverse findings, studies 1 and 2 both revealed changes in within-default mode network (DMN) and DMN to executive control network (ECN) connections. Connectivity in one pair, initially lower in depression, decreased in no treatment group and was inversely correlated with Montgomery-Asberg depression score change in treatment group. Weak baseline connectivity in this pair also predicted improvement on Montgomery-Asberg scale in both treatment and no treatment groups. Coupling of another pair, initially stronger in depression, increased in therapy though was unrelated to improvement. The results demonstrate possible role of within-DMN and DMN-ECN functional connectivity in depression treatment and suggest that neural mechanisms of nonpharmacological treatment action may be unrelated to normalization of initially disrupted connectivity.

Automated summary

The study explored changes in brain network functional connectivity in depressed patients during nonpharmacological treatment, particularly focusing on connections within the default mode network (DMN) and between DMN and the executive control network (ECN). Some connections that were initially weaker in depression decreased in the untreated group and were related to changes in depression scores, while other connections that were stronger in depression increased during therapy but were not related to improvement.