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Toward dysfunctional connectivity: a review of neuroimaging findings in pediatric major depressive disorder

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Abstract

Child and adolescent psychiatric neuroimaging research typically lags behind similar advances in adult disorders. While the pediatric depression imaging literature is less developed, a recent surge in interest has created the need for a synthetic review of this work. Major findings from pediatric volumetric and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting state functional connectivity studies converge to implicate a corticolimbic network of key areas that work together to mediate the task of emotion regulation. Imaging the brain of children and adolescents with unipolar depression began with volumetric studies of isolated brain regions that served to identify key prefrontal, cingulate and limbic nodes of depression-related circuitry elucidated from more recent advances in DTI and functional connectivity imaging. Systematic review of these studies preliminarily suggests developmental differences between findings in youth and adults, including prodromal neurobiological features, along with some continuity across development.

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Abbreviations

MDD:

Major Depressive Disorder

fMRI:

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

ACC:

Anterior Cingulate Cortex

PFC:

Prefrontal Cortex

DTI:

Diffusion Tensor Imaging

OFC:

Orbitofrontal Cortex

ODD:

Oppositional Defiant Disorder

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mood and Emotional Disorders Across the Lifespan Center, Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Leslie A. Hulvershorn & Amit Anand

  2. Section of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Leslie A. Hulvershorn

  3. Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Kathryn Cullen

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  1. Leslie A. Hulvershorn
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  2. Kathryn Cullen
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  3. Amit Anand
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Correspondence to Leslie A. Hulvershorn.

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Hulvershorn, L.A., Cullen, K. & Anand, A. Toward dysfunctional connectivity: a review of neuroimaging findings in pediatric major depressive disorder. Brain Imaging and Behavior 5, 307–328 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-011-9134-3

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