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Aberrant temporal–spatial complexity of intrinsic fluctuations in major depression

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Abstract

Accumulating evidence suggests that the brain is highly dynamic; thus, investigation of brain dynamics especially in brain connectivity would provide crucial information that stationary functional connectivity could miss. This study investigated temporal expressions of spatial modes within the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN) and cognitive control network (CCN) using a reliable data-driven co-activation pattern (CAP) analysis in two independent data sets. We found enhanced CAP-to-CAP transitions of the SN in patients with MDD. Results suggested enhanced flexibility of this network in the patients. By contrast, we also found reduced spatial consistency and persistence of the DMN in the patients, indicating reduced variability and stability in individuals with MDD. In addition, the patients were characterized by prominent activation of mPFC. Moreover, further correlation analysis revealed that persistence and transitions of RCCN were associated with the severity of depression. Our findings suggest that functional connectivity in the patients may not be simply attenuated or potentiated, but just alternating faster or slower among more complex patterns. The aberrant temporal–spatial complexity of intrinsic fluctuations reflects functional diaschisis of resting-state networks as characteristic of patients with MDD.

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Availability of data and code

The data that support the findings of this study as well as code used during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (62088102, U21A20485, 61976248, 91648208, 61976175, 81371478, 61503411).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Kaizhong Zheng, Baojuan Li and Hongbing Lu contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, Shaanxi, China

    Kaizhong Zheng & Badong Chen

  2. School of Biomedical Engineering, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032, Shaanxi, China

    Baojuan Li, Hongbing Lu, Baoyu Yan, Xi Zhang & Mengwan Liu

  3. Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032, Shaanxi, China

    Huaning Wang

  4. The Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, Institute of Neurology, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR, UK

    Karl J. Friston

  5. Department of Information and Communication Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710032, China

    Yuxia Wu

  6. Network Center, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032, Shaanxi, China

    Jian Liu

  7. Institute of Military Cognition and Brain Sciences, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, 27 Tai-Ping Road, Beijing, 100850, China

    Liang Li

  8. Department of Intelligence Science and Technology, College of Intelligence Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, 410073, China

    Jian Qin & Dewen Hu

  9. Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China

    Jin Liu & Lingjiang Li

Authors
  1. Kaizhong Zheng
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  2. Baojuan Li
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  3. Hongbing Lu
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  4. Huaning Wang
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  5. Jin Liu
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  6. Baoyu Yan
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  7. Karl J. Friston
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  8. Yuxia Wu
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  9. Jian Liu
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  10. Xi Zhang
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  11. Mengwan Liu
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  12. Liang Li
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  14. Badong Chen
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  15. Dewen Hu
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  16. Lingjiang Li
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection was performed by the LL, LL, JL and KZ. Clinical data were assessed by JL. The preprocessing analyses were performed by KZ and JQ. The first draft of the manuscript was written by KZ and BL. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. KZ, BC and DH reviewed and revised the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Badong Chen, Dewen Hu or Lingjiang Li.

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Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics approval and consent to participants

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee in Zhumadian Psychiatric Hospital and Xi-jing Hospital. All subjects gave informed consent before participating in this study.

Research involving human participants and/or animals

Human and human samples were used in the current study.

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Last version of the manuscript was approved by the authors before the submission.

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Zheng, K., Li, B., Lu, H. et al. Aberrant temporal–spatial complexity of intrinsic fluctuations in major depression. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 273, 169–181 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-022-01403-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-022-01403-x

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