White matter correlates of impaired attention control in major depressive disorder and healthy volunteers

Abstract

Background Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with impaired attention control and alterations in frontal-subcortical connectivity. We hypothesized that attention control as assessed by Stroop task interference depends on white matter integrity in fronto-cingulate regions and assessed this relationship using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in MDD and healthy volunteers (HV). Methods DTI images and Stroop task were acquired in 29 unmedicated MDD patients and 16 HVs, aged 18–65 years. The relationship between Stroop interference and fractional anisotropy (FA) was examined using region-of-interest (ROI) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analyses. Results ROI analysis revealed that Stroop interference correlated positively with FA in left caudal anterior cingulate cortex (cACC) in HVs (r= 0.62, p= 0.01), but not in MDD (r= −0.05, p= 0.79) even after controlling for depression severity. The left cACC was among 4 ROIs in fronto-cingulate network where FA was lower in MDD relative to HVs (F(1,41)= 8.87, p= 0.005). Additionally, TBSS showed the same group interaction of differences and correlations, although only at a statistical trend level. Limitations The modest sample size limits the generalizability of the findings. Conclusions Structural connectivity of white matter network of cACC correlated with magnitude of Stroop interference in HVs, but not MDD. The cACC-frontal network, sub-serving attention control, may be disrupted in MDD. Less cognitive control may include enhanced effects of salience in HVs, or less effective response inhibition in MDD. Further studies of salience and inhibition components of executive function may better elucidate the relationship between brain white matter changes and executive dysfunction in MDD.

Abnormal brain white matter in patients with right trigeminal neuralgia: a diffusion tensor imaging study

“…The primary diffusion metrics (FA and MD) reflect overall white matter health, organization and maturation [ 36 ]. In addition, AD reflects axon integrity and RD reflects myelin sheath integrity [ 31 ]. Both AD and RD are of great significance in understanding the underlying physiological mechanism [ 26 ].…”

Development and evaluation of a multimodal marker of major depressive disorder

“…All participating individuals provided informed consent for the study, following explanation of the experimental procedures of the study. reported in an analysis of suicide attempters (Olvet et al, 2014) and impaired attention in MDD (Rizk et al, 2017).…”

“…The dMRI data from 20 of these subjects was previously reported in an analysis of suicide attempters (Olvet et al, 2014) and impaired attention in MDD (Rizk et al, 2017). …”

Cerebral diffusion kurtosis imaging to assess the pathophysiology of postpartum depression

“…Many studies of MDD have shown significant differences in FA between MDD and non-MDD patients 17 , 18 , 20 , 25 , 28 , 29 . Recently, the largest multi-site DTI study in MDD showed evidence for global differences in FA and radial diffusivity in multiple WM, including the corpus callosum, internal capsule, corona radiata, cingulum, and fornix, in MDD 48 .…”

“…This technique represents a promising approach for early diagnosis of various neurodegenerative diseases 16 . Although many studies have evaluated MDD using DTI 17 – 30 , few studies have used DKI 31 , 32 . In those studies, the DKI showed a decrease in the mean kurtosis (MK) and radial kurtosis values, which were specific parameters that could not be expressed by DTI, in a wider range than that of fractional anisotropy (FA) value decreased.…”