The Complexity of Functional Connectivity Profiles of the Subgenual Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Dorsal Lateral Prefrontal Cortex in Major Depressive Disorder: a DIRECT Consortium Study

Abstract

Abstract Background The subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) appears to play a central role in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). To wit, its functional interactive profile with the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been shown to be related to treatment outcomes with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) treatment outcomes. Nevertheless, previous research on sgACC functional connectivity (FC) in MDD has yielded inconsistent results, partly due to small sample sizes and limited statistical power of prior work.Methods Here, leveraging a large multi-site sample (1660 MDD patients vs. 1341 healthy controls) from Phase II of the Depression Imaging REsearch ConsorTium (DIRECT), we systematically delineated case-control difference maps of sgACC FC and examined their clinical relevance to previously identified TMS targets. We also investigated case-control FC difference maps of left DLPFC sub-fields.Results In MDD patients we found significantly increased FC between sgACC and thalamus and reduced FC to a broad array of brain regions, including somatosensory area, occipital lobe, medial and lateral temporal lobe, and insular cortex, when global signal regression (GSR) was not implemented. Intriguingly, we found enhanced left DLPFC-sgACC FC in MDD patients when GSR was performed. We leveraged an prior independent sample to explore the possible relationship between the case-control differences regarding sgACC’s FC profiles and the treatment out comes of TMS. In sites in which open TMS treatment was administered, case-control differences in sgACC FC, with GSR, were related to clinical improvement. Next we tested whether the position of peak of the FC maps (previously identified TMS target) could be altered in MDD patients as compred with healthy controls (HC)s. We found the optimized TMS target differed in MDD patients. Several DLPFC sub-fields yielded case-control differences in whole-brain FC maps.Conclusion In summary, we reliably delineated MDD-related abnormalities of sgACC FC profiles in a large sample. GSR was essential in applying case-control difference maps to identify optimized TMS targets. Our results highlight the functional heterogeneity of the left DLPFC and of precise TMS targets therein.