Regional homogeneity within the default mode network in bipolar depression: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

• Published in: PloS one 2012-11, Vol.7 (11), p.e48181-e48181
• Main Authors: Liu, Chun-Hong, Ma, Xin, Li, Feng, Wang, Yong-Jun, Tie, Chang-Le, Li, Su-Fang, Chen, Tao-Lin, Fan, Ting-ting, Zhang, Yu, Dong, Jie, Yao, Li, Wu, Xia, Wang, Chuan-Yue
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Algorithms; Autism; Biology; Bipolar disorder; Bipolar Disorder - pathology; Bipolar Disorder - physiopathology; Brain; Brain - pathology; Brain mapping; Brain Mapping - methods; Brain research; Case-Control Studies; Depression - diagnosis; Education; Female; Frontal gyrus; Frontal Lobe - pathology; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Gender; Homogeneity; Hospitals; Humans; Hypoxia; Information science; Laboratories; Magnetic resonance; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Medical research; Medicine; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Middle Aged; Models, Statistical; Neurobiology; Neuroimaging; Neurophysiology; Neurosciences; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Parietal lobe; Parietal Lobe - pathology; Patients; Physics; Psychiatry; Regression Analysis; Resonance; Schizophrenia; Sex; Studies; Teaching methods
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048181

We sought to use a regional homogeneity (ReHo) approach as an index in resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the features of spontaneous brain activity within the default mode network (DMN) in patients suffering from bipolar depression (BD). Twenty-six patients with BD and 26 gender-, age-, and education-matched healthy subjects participated in the resting-state fMRI scans. We compared the differences in ReHo between the two groups within the DMN and investigated the relationships between sex, age, years of education, disease duration, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) total score, and ReHo in regions with significant group differences. Our results revealed that bipolar depressed patients had increased ReHo in the left medial frontal gyrus and left inferior parietal lobe compared to healthy controls. No correlations were found between regional ReHo values and sex, age, and clinical features within the BD group. Our findings indicate that abnormal brain activity is mainly distributed within prefrontal-limbic circuits, which are believed to be involved in the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying bipolar depression.