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Citation
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Sanchez SM, Tsuchiyagaito A, Kuplicki R, Park H, Postolski I, Rohan M, Paulus MP, Guinjoan SM. Biol. Psychiatry 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub. |
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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a frequent symptom of depression (MDD) associated to poor outcomes and treatment resistance. While most studies on RNT have focused on structural and functional characteristics of gray matter, this study aimed to examine the association between white matter (WM) tracts and interindividual variability in RNT.
METHODS: A probabilistic tractography approach was used to characterize differences in the size and anatomical trajectory of WM fibers traversing psychosurgery targets historically useful in the treatment of MDD (anterior capsulotomy, anterior cingulotomy, and subcaudate tractotomy), in patients with MDD and low (n = 53) or high RNT (n = 52), and healthy controls (HC, n = 54). MDD samples were propensity matched on depression and anxiety severity and demography.
RESULTS: WM tracts traversing left-hemisphere targets and reaching the ventral anterior body of the corpus callosum (thus extending to contralateral regions) were larger in MDD and high RNT compared to low RNT (effect size D = 0.27, p = 0.042) and HC (D = 0.23, p = 0.02). MDD was associated to greater size of tracts that converge onto the right medial orbitofrontal cortex, regardless of RNT intensity. Other RNT-nonspecific findings in MDD involved tracts reaching the left primary motor and the right primary somatosensory cortices.
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first evidence that WM connectivity patterns, which could become targets of intervention, differ between high- and low-RNT MDD participants. These WM differences extend to circuits that are not specific to RNT, possibly subserving reward mechanisms and psychomotor activity.
Language: en |