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Opposite subgenual cingulate cortical functional connectivity and metabolic activity patterns in refractory melancholic major depression

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Abstract

Although in treatment-resistant depression (TRD) subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) functional connectivity (FC) is frequently used to examine deregulated brain networks, neurobiological data from other sources may be required to interpret these FC findings. In 16 melancholic TRD patients with a high level of treatment resistance and 16 closely matched healthy never-depressed individuals we verified whether sgACC FC patterns were related to regional metabolic activity (CMRglc) with 18FDG PET imaging. Notwithstanding that TRD patients displayed stronger sgACC FC with the right lateral frontotemporal cortex, metabolically they exhibited the opposite pattern. Our results indicate that the sgACC seed and its functionally connected regions not automatically follow a similar metabolic pattern in TRD, possibly reflecting the refractory state of the sample. Multimodal brain imaging may help to increase our insight into the pathophysiology of TRD.

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Funding

This study was funded by a grant from the Scientific Fund W. Gepts, by the Ghent University Multidisciplinary Research Partnership “The integrative neuroscience of behavioural control”, by a grant BOF16/GOA/017 for a Concerted Research Action of Ghent University, and by a grant from the National Natural Foundation of China (Grant No. 61876156).

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  1. Guo-Rong Wu and Chris Baeken contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China

    Guo-Rong Wu

  2. Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China

    Guo-Rong Wu

  3. Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Rudi De Raedt

  4. Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, University Hospital (UZBrussel), Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090, Brussels, Belgium

    Peter Van Schuerbeek

  5. Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Ghent University, C. Heymanslaan 10, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Chris Baeken

  6. Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Chris Baeken

  7. Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital (UZBrussel), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090, Brussels, Belgium

    Chris Baeken

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  1. Guo-Rong Wu
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Correspondence to Chris Baeken.

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Wu, GR., De Raedt, R., Van Schuerbeek, P. et al. Opposite subgenual cingulate cortical functional connectivity and metabolic activity patterns in refractory melancholic major depression. Brain Imaging and Behavior 14, 426–435 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-018-0011-1

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