Abstract
Background
Although there has been much neurobiological research on major depressive disorder, research on the neurological function of depressive symptoms (DS) or subclinical depression is still scarce, especially in older women with DS.
Objectives
Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was used to compare functional connectivity (FC) between the cerebellum and cerebral in older women with DS and normal controls (NC), to explore unique changes in cerebellar FC in older women with DS.
Methods
In all, 16 older women with DS and 17 NC were recruited. All subjects completed rs-fMRI. The 26 sub-regions of the cerebellum divided by the AAL3 map were used as regions of interest (ROI) to analyze the difference in FC strength of cerebellar seeds from other cerebral regions between the two groups. Finally, partial correlation analysis between abnormal FC strength and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) score and Reminiscence Functions Scale (RFS) score in the DS group.
Results
Compared with NC group, the DS group showed significantly reduced FC between Crus I, II and the left frontoparietal region, and reduced FC between Crus I and the left temporal gyrus. Reduced FC between right insula (INS), right rolandic operculum (ROL), right precentral gyrus (PreCG) and the Lobule IX, X. Moreover, the negative FC between Crus I, II, Lobule IX and visual regions was reduced in the DS group. The DS group correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between the left Crus I and the right cuneus (CUN) FC and GDS. In addition, the abnormal FC strength correlated with the scores in different dimensions of the RFS, such as the negative FC between the Crus I and the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG) was positively associated with intimacy maintenance, and so on.
Conclusion
Older women with DS have anomalous FC between the cerebellum and several regions of the cerebrum, which may be related to the neuropathophysiological mechanism of DS in the DS group.
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Introduction
Depressive symptoms are when a person shows signs of depression, such as sadness, anxiety and despair, but does not yet meet the clinical diagnostic criteria for depression, and are a precursor and transitional state to depression [1].The number of older people with DS is much higher than those who are clinically diagnosed. According to previous studies, the prevalence rate of DS in the older is as high as 37.52%. [63]. This study found that BD, IM and BR scores were higher in the DS group than in the NC group, and the difference in BR scores were statistically significant. BD, IM and BR all belong to the negative memory functions, the common feature is the immersion in repeated meditation on the past and the difficulty in accepting the unresolved events of the past [33]. Consistent with previous research, the results of this study suggest that the DS group is more likely to have negative reminiscences.
Previous research had already confirmed a significant impact of autobiographical memory on late-life depression [64, 65]. An fMRI study demonstrated that as the severity of late-life depressive symptoms increases, the preference for positive memories decreases, and this memory bias affects the depressive symptoms in the elderly [66]. Correlation analyses in this study indicated that the FC strength between the left MTG, right CUN, right IOG right PreCG, and the cerebellum is positively correlated with scores on IM, PD, PS, and TE within reminiscence functions. This involves multiple memory and emotion-related brain areas, suggesting that reminiscence function was related to the mechanism of cognitive emotion regulation in the cerebellum. However, current research mainly focuses on the impact of autobiographical memory on late-life depression, and there is relatively limited investigation into the neural mechanisms of reminiscence functions in depressive symptoms. Further exploration is still needed.
This study still has limitations. first, the sample size of this study is small, which may affect the results of the study, so the sample size should be expanded in subsequent studies. Second, in this study, only GDS scores were used to distinguish DS group and NC group in older women, which should be combined with the evaluation of professional psychologists in future studies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, our study found abnormal functional connectivity between the cerebellum and several cerebral regions in the older women with DS group, involving the frontoparietal network, visual network, right INS, right ROL, right PreCG, and so on. At present, there are few studies on the involvement of cerebellum in DS in older women, this study provides a reference for future research on the neural mechanism of DS in older women.
Data availability
The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to privacy and ethical restrictions but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Abbreviations
- DS:
-
Depressive symptoms
- rs-fMRI:
-
Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging
- FC:
-
Functional connectivity
- NC:
-
Normal controls
- ROI:
-
Regions of interest
- GDS:
-
Geriatric Depression Scale
- RFS:
-
Reminiscence Functions Scale
- INS:
-
Insula
- ROL:
-
Rolandic operculum
- PreCG:
-
Precentral gyrus
- CUN:
-
Cuneus
- MTG:
-
Maiddle temporal gyrus
- PS:
-
Problem-solving
- ID:
-
Identity
- DP:
-
Death preparation
- BR:
-
Bitterness revival
- IM:
-
Intimacy maintenance
- TE:
-
Teaching
- BR:
-
Boredom reduction
- BOLD:
-
Blood oxygen level-dependent
- EPI:
-
Echo Planar Imaging
- FOV:
-
Field of view
- MNI:
-
Montreal Neurological Institute
- GRF:
-
Gaussian random field
- IPL:
-
Inferior parietal gyrus, excluding supramarginal and angular gyri
- SFG:
-
Superior frontal gyrus
- LING:
-
Lingual gyrus
- IOG:
-
Inferior occipital gyrus
- PCUN:
-
Precuneus
- ANG:
-
Angular gyrus
- IPG:
-
Inferior parietal gyrus
- SMG:
-
Supramarginal gyrus
- MFG:
-
Middle frontal gyrus
- ITG:
-
Inferior temporal gyrus
- MOG:
-
Middle occipital gyrus
- THA:
-
Thalamus
- DLPFC:
-
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
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Acknowledgements
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Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, China. (Grant No.82001444)
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Lanling Feng and Dongmei Wu involved in all aspects of the study from design, analysis, interpretation of data and preparation of the manuscript. Shaolun Ma and Li Dong involved in the analysis and interpretation of the data.Yuchuan Yue, Tao Li took responsibility for project conceptualization and draft supervision. Guoju Mao,Yixun Tang, Zixiang Ye provided assistances in the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Sichuan University Ethics Review Board reviewed and approved the study. the study is done in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Each participant provided written informed consent to accomplish this study after a complete description of the protocol. For individuals with a GDS score of ≥ 26 in the screening, it is recommended to seek assessment and treatment from mental health professional institutions.This study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTROCC-14004510).
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Feng, L., Wu, D., Ma, S. et al. Resting-state functional connectivity of the cerebellum-cerebrum in older women with depressive symptoms. BMC Psychiatry 23, 732 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05232-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05232-7