World J Psychiatry. 2024 Mar 19;14(3):456-466. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v14.i3.456. eCollection 2024 Mar 19.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD) is a significant mental health concern that often leads to recurrent depression in adulthood. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) offers unique insights into the neural mechanisms underlying this condition. However, despite previous research, the specific vulnerable brain regions affected in adolescent MDD patients have not been fully elucidated.
AIM: To identify consistent vulnerable brain regions in adolescent MDD patients using rs-fMRI and activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis.
METHODS: We performed a comprehensive literature search through July 12, 2023, for studies investigating brain functional changes in adolescent MDD patients. We utilized regional homogeneity (ReHo), amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and fractional ALFF (fALFF) analyses. We compared the regions of aberrant spontaneous neural activity in adolescents with MDD vs healthy controls (HCs) using ALE.
RESULTS: Ten studies (369 adolescent MDD patients and 313 HCs) were included. Combining the ReHo and ALFF/fALFF data, the results revealed that the activity in the right cuneus and left precuneus was lower in the adolescent MDD patients than in the HCs (voxel size: 648 mm3, P < 0.05), and no brain region exhibited increased activity. Based on the ALFF data, we found decreased activity in the right cuneus and left precuneus in adolescent MDD patients (voxel size: 736 mm3, P < 0.05), with no regions exhibiting increased activity.
CONCLUSION: Through ALE meta-analysis, we consistently identified the right cuneus and left precuneus as vulnerable brain regions in adolescent MDD patients, increasing our understanding of the neuropathology of affected adolescents.
PMID:38617984 | PMC:PMC11008390 | DOI:10.5498/wjp.v14.i3.456
