Brain structural and functional changes in patients with major depressive disorder: a literature review

Abstract

Depression is a mental disorder characterized by low mood and anhedonia that involves abnormalities in multiple brain regions and networks. Epidemiological studies demonstrated that depression has become one of the most important diseases affecting human health and longevity. The pathogenesis of the disease has not been fully elucidated. The clinical effect of treatment is not satisfactory in many cases. Neuroimaging studies have provided rich and valuable evidence that psychological symptoms and behavioral deficits in patients with depression are closely related to structural and functional abnormalities in specific areas of the brain. There were morphological differences in several brain regions, including the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and limbic system, in people with depression compared to healthy people. In addition, people with depression also had abnormal functional connectivity to the default mode network, the central executive network, and the salience network. These findings provide an opportunity to re-understand the biological mechanisms of depression. In the future, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may serve as an important auxiliary tool for psychiatrists in the process of early and accurate diagnosis of depression and finding the appropriate treatment target for each patient to optimize clinical response.