Altered Connectivity of the Anterior Cingulate and the Posterior Superior Temporal Gyrus in a Longitudinal Study of Later-life Depression

Abstract

Patients with later-life depression (LLD) show abnormal gray matter (GM) volume, white matter (WM) integrity and functional connectivity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG), but it remains unclear whether these abnormalities persist over time. We examined whether structural and functional abnormalities in these two regions are present within the same subjects during depressed vs. remitted phases. Sixteen patients with LLD and 30 healthy subjects were studied over a period of 1.5 years. Brain images obtained with a 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system were analyzed by voxel-based morphometry of the GM volume, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state functional MRI were used to assess ACC–pSTG connectivity. Patients with LLD in the depressed and remitted phases showed significantly smaller GM volume in the left ACC and left pSTG than healthy subjects. Both patients with LLD in the depressed and remitted phases had significantly higher diffusivities in the WM tract of the left ACC–pSTG than healthy subjects. Remitted patients with LLD showed lower functional ACC–pSTG connectivity compared to healthy subjects. No difference was found in the two regions between depressed and remitted patients in GM volume, structural or functional connectivity. Functional ACC–pSTG connectivity was positively correlated with lower global function during remission. Our preliminary data show that structural and functional abnormalities of the ACC and pSTG occur during LLD remission. Our findings tentatively reveal the brain pathophysiology involved in LLD and may aid in developing neuroanatomical biomarkers for this condition.

Structural and functional neuroimaging of late-life depression: a coordinate-based meta-analysis

“…We identified 32 eligible whole-brain neuroimaging papers comparing LLD patients with HC individuals (Albert, Gau, Taylor, & Newhouse, 2017;Bobb et al, 2012;Bricenõ et al, 2015;Byun et al, 2016;Chen et al, 2012;De Asis et al, 2001;Dombrovski et al, 2013;Dumas & Newhouse, 2015;Fang et al, 2015;Guo et al, 2013;Harada et al, 2018Harada et al, , 2016Hou, Sui, Song, & Yuan, 2016;C. M. Huang et al, 2019;Hwang et al, 2010;Lee, Liu, Wai, Ko, & Lee, 2013;Li et al, 2020;Liu et al, 2012;Mah, Williams, Leung, Freel, & Pollock, 2011;Oudega et al, 2014;Rao et al, 2015;Respino et al, 2019;Ribeiz et al, 2013;Smith, Kramer, et al, 2009;Takami, Okamoto, Yamashita, Okada, & Yamawaki, 2007;Wang et al, 2008;Weisenbach et al, 2014;Wong et al, 2016;Xie et al, 2012;Yuan, Zhu, et al, 2008;Yue, Jia, Hou, Zang, & Yuan, 2015).…”

“…M. Huang et al, 2019;Hwang et al, 2010;Lee, Liu, Wai, Ko, & Lee, 2013;Li et al, 2020;Liu et al, 2012;Mah, Williams, Leung, Freel, & Pollock, 2011;Oudega et al, 2014;Rao et al, 2015;Respino et al, 2019;Ribeiz et al, 2013;Smith, Kramer, et al, 2009;Takami, Okamoto, Yamashita, Okada, & Yamawaki, 2007;Wang et al, 2008;Weisenbach et al, 2014;Wong et al, 2016;Xie et al, 2012;Yuan, Zhu, et al, 2008;Yue, Jia, Hou, Zang, & Yuan, 2015). Among these four groups of papers had (partially) overlapping samples, including (Bricenõ et al, 2015;Rao et al, 2015;Weisenbach et al, 2014), (Chen et al, 2012;Guo et al, 2013;Liu et al, 2012), (Harada et al, 2018(Harada et al, , 2016, and Yuan, Zhu, et al, 2008). The data from these papers was merged, yielding 26 independent study populations with 674 LLD and 568 HC participants (Fig.…”

Evidence for Structural and Functional Alterations of Frontal-Executive and Corticolimbic Circuits in Late-Life Depression and Relationship to Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: A Systematic Review

“…Two studies connected one or two corticolimbic [posterior cingulate In the first study, individuals with LLD showed a lower FA and higher radial diffusivity (RD) in the tracts connecting the PCC/Pcun with the dACC, but no differences in the tracts connecting the PCC/PCun with the thalamus (Yin et al, 2016a). In the second study, both individuals with current and remitted LLD had a higher MD, RD, AD but no difference in FA compared to the HC group in the tract connecting l-ACC to pSTG (Harada et al, 2018). Finally, a corticolimbic tract study connecting bilateral uncinate fasciculus tracts and bilateral cingulum tracts, revealed a loss of white matter integrity in the right uncinate fasciculus and bilateral cingulum tracts in individuals with LLD (Charlton et al, 2014).…”

“…One study used a pairwise BOLD signal average correlation comparison of 87 regions in currently depressed LLD (Tadayonnejad et al, 2014) and found decreased FC in individuals with LLD compared to the HC group in frontalexecutive (i.e., nucleus accumbens) and corticolimbic regions (i.e., rostral anterior cingulate cortex, superior frontal, and middle orbitofrontal gyri). Harada et al (2018) used a Pearson's correlation coefficient score between anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG). The LLD individuals with current depression showed no difference compared to the HC group, however individuals with remitted LLD showed lower functional connectivity compared to the HC group (Table 5).…”

“…Finally, five studies were obtained by cross-reference of previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses and were incorporated into the final pool. Finally, 37 studies met all of our eligibility criteria:15 used DWI; 18 used rs-fMRI; and 4 used both DWI and rs-fMRI (Sexton et al, 2012a;Tadayonnejad et al, 2014;Yin et al, 2016a;Harada et al, 2018). Seven studies included groups other than LLD and controls: three included individuals with MCI (Bai et al, 2012;Xie et al, 2013;Chen et al, 2016); one included individuals with LLD plus amnestic-MCI (LLD+aMCI) (Li et al, 2015b); one included individuals with LLD plus memory deficit (LLD+MD) (Mai et al, 2017); and two included both individuals with aMCI, and LLD plus aMCI (Li et al, 2014(Li et al, , 2015a.…”