Antidepressant effect on connectivity of the mood-regulating circuit: an FMRI study. Neuropsychopharmacology 2005 Jul;30(7):1334-44
Date
04/28/2005Pubmed ID
15856081DOI
10.1038/sj.npp.1300725Scopus ID
2-s2.0-20544457838 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 272 CitationsAbstract
The mechanisms by which antidepressant-induced neurochemical changes lead to physiological changes in brain circuitry and ultimately an antidepressant response remain unclear. This study investigated the effects of sertraline, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant, on corticolimbic connectivity, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In all, 12 unmedicated unipolar depressed patients and 11 closely matched healthy control subjects completed two fMRI scanning sessions at baseline and after 6 weeks. Depressed patients received treatment with sertraline between the two sessions. During each fMRI session, subjects first completed a conventional block-design experiment. Next, connectivity between cortical and limbic regions was measured using correlations of low-frequency blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) fluctuations (LFBF) during continuous exposure to neutral, positive, and negative pictures. At baseline, depressed patients had decreased corticolimbic LFBF correlations compared to healthy subjects during the resting state and on exposure to emotionally valenced pictures. At rest and on exposure to neutral and positive pictures, LFBF correlation between the anterior cingulate cortex and limbic regions was significantly increased in patients after treatment. However, on exposure to negative pictures, corticolimbic LFBF correlations remained decreased in depressed patients. The results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that antidepressant treatment may increase corticolimbic connectivity, thereby possibly increasing the regulatory influence of cortical mood-regulating regions over limbic regions.
Author List
Anand A, Li Y, Wang Y, Wu J, Gao S, Bukhari L, Mathews VP, Kalnin A, Lowe MJAuthors
Vincent Mathews MD Chair, Professor in the Radiology department at Medical College of WisconsinYang Wang MD Professor in the Radiology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultAffect
Antidepressive Agents
Brain
Brain Mapping
Case-Control Studies
Depression
Emotions
Facial Expression
Female
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Linear Models
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Neural Pathways
Oxygen
Photic Stimulation
Sertraline
