Breakdown of long-range spatial correlations of infraslow amplitude fluctuations of EEG oscillations in patients with current and past major depressive disorder

Duho Sihn; Ji Sun Kim; Oh-Sang Kwon; Sung-Phil Kim

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1132996

Breakdown of long-range spatial correlations of infraslow amplitude fluctuations of EEG oscillations in patients with current and past major depressive disorder

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Apr 26:14:1132996. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1132996. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Duho Sihn¹, Ji Sun Kim², Oh-Sang Kwon¹, Sung-Phil Kim¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Introduction: Identifying biomarkers for depression from brain activity is important for the diagnosis and treatment of depression disorders. We investigated spatial correlations of the amplitude fluctuations of electroencephalography (EEG) oscillations as a potential biomarker of depression. The amplitude fluctuations of EEG oscillations intrinsically reveal both temporal and spatial correlations, indicating rapid and functional organization of the brain networks. Amid these correlations, long-range temporal correlations are reportedly impaired in patients with depression, exhibiting amplitude fluctuations closer to a random process. Based on this occurrence, we hypothesized that the spatial correlations of amplitude fluctuations would also be altered by depression.

Methods: In the present study, we extracted the amplitude fluctuations of EEG oscillations by filtering them through infraslow frequency band (0.05-0.1 Hz).

Results: We found that the amplitude fluctuations of theta oscillations during eye-closed rest depicted lower levels of spatial correlation in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) compared to control individuals. This breakdown of spatial correlations was most prominent in the left fronto - temporal network, specifically in patients with current MDD rather than in those with past MDD. We also found that the amplitude fluctuations of alpha oscillations during eye-open rest exhibited lower levels of spatial correlation in patients with past MDD compared to control individuals or patients with current MDD.

Discussion: Our results suggest that breakdown of long-range spatial correlations may offer a biomarker for the diagnosis of depression (current MDD), as well as the tracking of the recovery from depression (past MDD).

Keywords: EEG amplitude fluctuation; alpha oscillation; depression; infraslow activity; spatial correlation; theta oscillation.