Abnormal regional brain activity in patients with first-episode medication-naïve depressive disorder: A longitudinal fNIRS study

• Published in: Psychiatry research 2025-01, Vol.343, p.116288, Article 116288
• Main Authors: Wang, Hongyu, Wang, Weili, Diao, Yunheng, Deng, Li, Xie, Yanli, Duan, Dexiang, Li, Juan, Liu, Xianhua, Shao, Qiujing, Wang, Xiaonan, Zhang, Zhaohui, Cui, Guimei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Brain Mapping; Clinical symptoms; Depressive disorder; Depressive Disorder, Major - diagnostic imaging; Depressive Disorder, Major - physiopathology; Female; fNIRS; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Middle Aged; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; Temporal Lobe - diagnostic imaging; Temporal Lobe - physiopathology; VFT; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2024.116288

•The first-episode medication-naïve depression patients’ brain activity.•Changes of near infrared brain functional imaging before and after treatment.•Abnormal brain activation patterns assist in the diagnosis of depression. The potential relationship between abnormal brain activity and clinical symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) is important for auxiliary diagnosis and prediction of the curative effect of treatments for MDD. Before antidepressant treatment (T1), 4 weeks after treatment (T2), and 8 weeks after treatment (T3), 33 patients with first-episode medication-naïve MDD and 30 healthy controls (HCs) were examined using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to evaluate the cerebral hemodynamic response in the frontal and temporal cortex during the Verbal Fluency Task (VFT). Compared with HCs, VFT scores and activation levels of the frontal pole, inferior frontal gyrus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were significantly decreased in the first-episode medication-naïve depressive disorder patients (FMD). Compared with T2, the activation levels of the superior temporal gyrus and inferior central gyrus were increased at T3 in the FMD. The low activation pattern of the frontal pole, inferior frontal gyrus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the FMD during VFT is helpful for clinical diagnosis of MDD. The superior temporal gyrus and inferior central gyrus may be sensitive brain regions that reflect the clinical effect of MDD in patients.