Alteration of whole-brain amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation and degree centrality in patients with mild to moderate depression: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Fenyang Chen; Luoyu Wang; Zhongxiang Ding

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1061359

Alteration of whole-brain amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation and degree centrality in patients with mild to moderate depression: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Dec 7:13:1061359. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1061359. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Fenyang Chen¹, Luoyu Wang², Zhongxiang Ding²

Affiliations

¹ The Fourth School of Clinical Medicine, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
² Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hangzhou First People's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Abstract

Background: Mild to moderate depressive disorder has a high risk of progressing to major depressive disorder.

Methods: Low-frequency amplitude and degree centrality were calculated to compare 49 patients with mild to moderate depression and 21 matched healthy controls. Correlation analysis was conducted to explore the correlation between the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and the degree centrality (DC) of altered brain region and the scores of clinical scale. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were further analyzed to evaluate the predictive value of above altered ALFF and DC areas as image markers for mild to moderate depression.

Results: Compared with healthy controls, patients with mild to moderate depression had lower ALFF values in the left precuneus and posterior cingulate gyrus [voxel p < 0.005, cluster p < 0.05, Gaussian random field correction (GRF) corrected] and lower DC values in the left insula (voxel p < 0.005, cluster p < 0.05, GRF corrected). There was a significant negative correlation between DC in the left insula and scale scores of Zung's Depression Scale (ZungSDS), Beck Self-Rating Depression Scale (BDI), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS26), and Ruminative Thinking Response Scale (RRS_SUM, RRS_REFLECTION, RRS_DEPR). Finally, ROC analysis showed that the ALFF of the left precuneus and posterior cingulate gyrus had a sensitivity of 61.9% and a specificity of 79.6%, and the DC of the left insula had a sensitivity of 81% and a specificity of 85.7% in differentiating mild to moderate depression from healthy controls.

Conclusion: Intrinsic abnormality of the brain was mainly located in the precuneus and insular in patients with mild to moderate depression, which provides insight into potential neurological mechanisms.

Keywords: degree centrality; low-frequency amplitude; mild to moderate depression; receiver operator characteristic curve; resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.