Disrupted interhemispheric coordination of sensory-motor networks and insula in major depressive disorder

Chunguo Zhang; Huan Jing; Haohao Yan; Xiaoling Li; Jiaquan Liang; Qinqin Zhang; Wenting Liang; Yangpan Ou; Can Peng; Yang Yu; Weibin Wu; Guojun Xie; Wenbin Guo

doi:10.3389/fnins.2023.1135337

Disrupted interhemispheric coordination of sensory-motor networks and insula in major depressive disorder

Front Neurosci. 2023 Mar 7:17:1135337. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1135337. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Chunguo Zhang¹, Huan Jing¹, Haohao Yan², Xiaoling Li¹, Jiaquan Liang¹, Qinqin Zhang¹, Wenting Liang¹, Yangpan Ou², Can Peng¹, Yang Yu¹, Weibin Wu¹, Guojun Xie¹, Wenbin Guo²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, The Third People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong, China.
² Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Abstract

Objective: Prior researches have identified distinct differences in neuroimaging characteristics between healthy controls (HCs) and patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the correlations between homotopic connectivity and clinical characteristics in patients with MDD have yet to be fully understood. The present study aimed to investigate common and unique patterns of homotopic connectivity and their relationships with clinical characteristics in patients with MDD.

Methods: We recruited 42 patients diagnosed with MDD and 42 HCs. We collected a range of clinical variables, as well as exploratory eye movement (EEM), event-related potentials (ERPs) and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data. The data were analyzed using correlation analysis, support vector machine (SVM), and voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC).

Results: Compared with HCs, patients with MDD showed decreased VMHC in the insula, and increased VMHC in the cerebellum 8/vermis 8/vermis 9 and superior/middle occipital gyrus. SVM analysis using VMHC values in the cerebellum 8/vermis 8/vermis 9 and insula, or VMHC values in the superior/middle occipital gyrus and insula as inputs can distinguish HCs and patients with MDD with high accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity.

Conclusion: The study demonstrated that decreased VMHC in the insula and increased VMHC values in the sensory-motor networks may be a distinctive neurobiological feature for patients with MDD, which could potentially serve as imaging markers to discriminate HCs and patients with MDD.

Keywords: brain; magnetic resonance imaging; major depressive disorder; support vector machine; voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by grants from the “The 14th Five-Year” Medical High-level Key Medical Specialty Development Project of Foshan (Grant No. FSGSP145069), the Project of Foshan Science and Technology Bureau (Grant No. 2020001005608), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 82171508).