Liu Xiaozheng, Chen Wei, Hou Hongtao, Chen Xingli, Zhang Jiangtao, Liu Jian, Guo Zhongwei, Bai Guanghui
China-USA Neuroimaging Research Institute, Department of Radiology of the Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325027, China.
Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310012, China.
Behav Brain Res. 2017 May 30;326:132-138. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2017.01.037. Epub 2017 Jan 23.
Depression is one of the most common psychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease (AD), occurring in up to 40% of AD patients. It influences the cognitive function of patients and increases the burden on their caregivers. Currently, there are few effective medical treatments for reducing the symptoms of depression in AD patients. Understanding the underlying neurobiological mechanisms in AD patients with depression (D-AD) is crucial for developing effective interventions. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is an important brain region involved in emotional and cognitive processing. Several functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have shown that patients with major depressive disorder have structural, functional, and metabolic abnormalities in the ACC.
We investigated the resting-state functional connectivity (FC) of ACC subregions in 15 D-AD patients and 17 non-depressed AD (nD-AD) patients, by parcellating the ACC into the rostral and dorsal ACC (dACC).
Our results revealed that D-AD patients have decreased FC between the dACC and the right occipital lobe and right lingual gyrus, compared with nD-AD patients.
Decreased FC between the dACC and the right occipital lobe and right lingual gyrus may play an important role in the neuropathophysiology of depression in AD.
抑郁症是阿尔茨海默病（AD）最常见的精神症状之一，高达40%的AD患者会出现。它影响患者的认知功能，增加其照料者的负担。目前，几乎没有有效的药物治疗来减轻AD患者的抑郁症状。了解伴有抑郁症的AD患者（D-AD）潜在的神经生物学机制对于开发有效的干预措施至关重要。前扣带回皮质（ACC）是参与情绪和认知加工的重要脑区。多项功能磁共振成像研究表明，重度抑郁症患者的ACC存在结构、功能和代谢异常。
我们通过将ACC划分为喙部ACC和背侧ACC（dACC），研究了15例D-AD患者和17例非抑郁AD（nD-AD）患者ACC亚区域的静息态功能连接（FC）。
我们的结果显示，与nD-AD患者相比，D-AD患者dACC与右侧枕叶和右侧舌回之间的FC降低。
dACC与右侧枕叶和右侧舌回之间的FC降低可能在AD抑郁症的神经病理生理学中起重要作用。
