Dataset Information

Working-memory fMRI reveals cingulate hyperactivation in euthymic major depression.

ABSTRACT: While cognitive impairments are well documented for the acute episode of major depressive disorder (MDD), less is known about cognitive functioning in the euthymic state. For working memory, dysfunctional activation of lateral prefrontal and cingulate cortex has been reported in the acute episode. This study investigates working-memory function and its neurobiological correlate in euthymic MDD patients, particularly whether dysfunctional activation persists when depressive symptoms improve. We investigated 56 subjects with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3 Tesla. To challenge working-memory function, a classical verbal n-back task (0-, 1-, and 2-back) was used in 28 well-characterized, euthymic, unipolar MDD patients and 28 healthy control subjects matched according to age, sex, and educational level. Data were analyzed using SPM5. In the absence of significant behavioral differences, we observed comparable overall patterns of brain activation in both groups. As expected, both groups showed stronger activation of the typical working-memory network with increasing memory load. However, significant hyperactivation of the cingulate cortex was observed in euthymic patients, while lateral prefrontal activation was comparable between patients and controls. Working-memory challenge in the euthymic state of MDD revealed a dissociation of lateral prefrontal and cingulate brain function. Cingulate function, which is important for both emotional and cognitive processing and their integration, is still abnormal when mood is restored. This could reflect a different speed of normalization in prefrontal and limbic cortices, persistent systematic changes in neuronal networks after an episode of MDD, or a compensatory mechanism to maintain working-memory performance.

SUBMITTER: Schoning S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6870640 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Working-memory fMRI reveals cingulate hyperactivation in euthymic major depression.

Schöning Sonja S Zwitserlood Pienie P Engelien Almut A Behnken Andreas A Kugel Harald H Schiffbauer Hagen H Lipina Katharina K Pachur Christine C Kersting Anette A Dannlowski Udo U Baune Bernhard T BT Zwanzger Peter P Reker Thomas T Heindel Walter W Arolt Volker V Konrad Carsten C

Human brain mapping 20090901 9

While cognitive impairments are well documented for the acute episode of major depressive disorder (MDD), less is known about cognitive functioning in the euthymic state. For working memory, dysfunctional activation of lateral prefrontal and cingulate cortex has been reported in the acute episode. This study investigates working-memory function and its neurobiological correlate in euthymic MDD patients, particularly whether dysfunctional activation persists when depressive symptoms improve. We i ...[more]

PMID: 19086021

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Project description:Verbal Working memory (vWM) capacity measures the ability to maintain and manipulate verbal information for a short period of time. The specific neural correlates of this construct are still a matter of debate. The aim of this study was to conduct a coordinate-based meta-analysis of 42 fMRI studies on visual vWM in healthy subjects (n = 795, males = 459, females = 325, unknown = 11; age range: 18-75). The studies were obtained after an exhaustive literature search on PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Brainmap database. We analyzed regional activation differences during fMRI tasks with the anisotropic effect-size version of seed-based d mapping software (ES-SDM). The results were further validated by performing jackknife sensitivity analyses and heterogeneity analyses. We investigated the effect of numerous relevant influencing factors by fitting corresponding linear regression models. We isolated consistent activation in a network containing fronto-parietal areas, right cerebellum, and basal ganglia structures. Regarding lateralization, the results pointed toward a bilateral frontal activation, a left-lateralization of parietal regions and a right-lateralization of the cerebellum, indicating that the left-hemisphere concept of vWM should be reconsidered. We also isolated activation in regions important for response inhibition, emphasizing the role of attentional control in vWM. Moreover, we found a significant influence of mean reaction time, load, and age on activation associated with vWM. Activation in left medial frontal gyrus, left precentral gyrus, and left precentral gyrus turned out to be positively associated with mean reaction time whereas load was associated with activation across the PFC, fusiform gyrus, parietal cortex, and parts of the cerebellum. In the latter case activation was mainly detectable in both hemispheres whereas the influence of age became manifest predominantly in the left hemisphere. This led us to conclude that future vWM studies should take these factors into consideration.

Dataset Information

Working-memory fMRI reveals cingulate hyperactivation in euthymic major depression.

Publications

Working-memory fMRI reveals cingulate hyperactivation in euthymic major depression.

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