Ghent University, Department of Experimental Psychology and Ghent Institute for Functional and Metabolic Imaging, Belgium.
J Affect Disord. 2012 Dec 10;141(2-3):352-60. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2012.03.024. Epub 2012 Apr 11.
Rumination is a good predictor of major depression. The current study explores the structural and functional neural correlates of rumination.
To explore structural correlates of rumination (RRS, Treynor et al., 2003) we used voxel-based morphometry. We relate these correlates of rumination to concurrence of grey matter reductions in depressed patients by means of a quantitative meta-analysis on 16 VBM studies. Resting state data was used to compute maps of the amplitude of low frequency fluctuations.
Rumination correlated negatively with grey matter volume in bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and bilateral mid cingulate cortex. The volume reductions were within proximity of grey matter reductions identified in the meta-analysis on depressed patients in bilateral IFG and ACC. Moreover reductions in resting state activity were overlapping with volume reductions correlated with rumination in ACC and right IFG.
The participants were all healthy control subjects. Future research is needed to explore the neural correlates of rumination in major depression.
The results show that rumination is associated with volume and resting state reductions in brain areas that have been related to cognitive control process of inhibition and thought suppression. We conclude that rumination not only qualifies as a behavioural predictor of major depression but also goes along with neuroanatomical abnormalities that are similar to those identified for depression.
反刍是重度抑郁症的良好预测指标。本研究探讨了反刍的结构和功能神经相关性。
为了探索反刍（RRS，Treynor 等人，2003 年）的结构相关性，我们使用了基于体素的形态测量学。我们通过对 16 项 VBM 研究进行定量荟萃分析，将这些反刍相关性与抑郁患者灰质减少的并发情况联系起来。静息状态数据用于计算低频波动幅度的图谱。
反刍与双侧额下回（IFG）、左前扣带回（ACC）和双侧中扣带回的灰质体积呈负相关。体积减少与在双侧 IFG 和 ACC 中对抑郁患者进行的荟萃分析中确定的灰质减少接近。此外，静息状态活动的减少与与反刍相关的 ACC 和右 IFG 的灰质体积减少重叠。
参与者均为健康对照组。未来的研究需要探索重度抑郁症患者反刍的神经相关性。
研究结果表明，反刍与大脑区域的体积和静息状态减少有关，这些区域与认知控制过程中的抑制和思维抑制有关。我们得出的结论是，反刍不仅是重度抑郁症的行为预测指标，而且还伴随着与抑郁患者相似的神经解剖异常。
