Cerebellar-cerebral dynamic functional connectivity alterations in major depressive disorder

Abstract

Background: The cerebellum plays an important role in the neural mechanism of depression and its static functional connectivity (FC) with the cerebrum is disrupted in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, cerebellar-cerebral dynamic FC alterations in MDD remain largely unknown.

Methods: 50 patients with MDD and 36 well-matched healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Cerebellar-cerebral dynamic FC analyses were performed using the cerebellar seeds previously identified as being involved in the executive, default-mode, affective-limbic, and motor networks. Inter-group differences in the cerebellar dynamic FC and their associations with clinical and cognitive variables were examined.

Results: Compared to healthy controls, patients with MDD had decreased cerebellar-cerebral dynamic FC of the cerebellar subregions connecting with the executive, default-mode and affective-limbic networks. The dynamic FC of the cerebellar subregion connecting with the affective-limbic network was related to severity of depression and anxiety symptoms in MDD patients. The dynamic FC of the cerebellar subregions connecting with the default-mode and affective-limbic networks were related to sustained attention and prospective memory in controls, while the correlations were inverse or non-significant in patients.

Limitations: The fairly modest sample size and potential medication effect may increase the instability of the results.

Conclusions: Our findings provide further evidence for the pivotal role of the cerebellum in the neuropathology of depression, pointing to potential targets of cerebellar-cerebral pathways for alternative intervention or monitoring therapeutic responses.

Keywords: Cerebellum; Dynamic functional connectivity; Functional network; Major depressive disorder; Resting-state fMRI.