Altered resting-state functional connectivity in depressive disorder patients with suicidal attempts

Abstract

In this study, we attempted to examine the resting state functional connectivity (resting state FC) and its correlation with clinical features in depressed disorder patients with suicidal attempts (SA). A total of 32 individuals participated in this study: 12 depressive disorder patients with SA and 20 healthy controls were included. Resting state FC was investigated between the two groups by region of interest (ROI) to ROI analysis. Then seed to voxel analysis was performed using significant ROIs as a seed. The correlations of significant resting state FC with clinical data were analyzed. The connectivity of anterior division of right parahippocampus-posterior division of left parahippocampus (pPaHCl) and temporooccipital part of right inferior temporal gyrus-right frontal eye field of dorsal attention network (FEFrDAN) were significantly increased, while connectivity of medial frontal cortex (MedFC)-right supplementary motor cortex (SMAr) was significantly decreased in the patients (p-FDR [false discovery rate] <0.05). The patient group showed a stronger connectivity between the pPaHCl and a cluster of voxels in the right uncus as well as FEFrDAN and a cluster of voxels in the right fusiform gyrus (p-FDR <0.05). MedFC and SMAr connectivity showed a negative correlation to suicidal ideation (p-FDR = 0.018). These findings suggest a possible role of altered resting state FC among brain regions in neurobiology of depressive disorder and suicidal ideation.

Keywords: Depressive disorder; Resting-state functional connectivity; Suicidal attempt.