Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Acta Neuropsychiatr. 2024 Feb;36(1):39-43. doi: 10.1017/neu.2023.36. Epub 2023 Aug 25.
Rumination is a passive form of negative self-focused cognition that predicts depressive episodes for individuals with bipolar disorder (BD). Individuals with BD also have impaired inhibitory executive control; rumination in BD may therefore reflect executive dysfunction. We investigated the relationship between a neural measure of executive functioning (functional connectivity between the frontoparietal control network [FPCN] and the default mode network [DMN] during an effortful task), behavioural measures of executive functioning (the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function) and rumination (the Ruminative Responses Scale).
Fifteen individuals with BD and fifteen healthy controls underwent MRI scans during mental distraction. Using CONN toolbox, between-network FPCN-DMN connectivity values were calculated. We conducted Pearson's bivariate correlations between connectivity values, BRIEF and RRS scores.
RRS scores were positively correlated with BRIEF Behavioral Regulation Index (BRI) scores. In individuals with BD, there was a positive correlation between FPCN-DMN functional connectivity during distraction and BRIEF BRI scores. FPCN-DMN functional connectivity was also positively correlated with RRS ruminative brooding scores. Healthy controls did not show significant correlations between these behavioural and neural measures of executive functioning and rumination.
For individuals with BD, the greater the tendency to ruminate and the higher the executive dysfunction, the stronger the connectivity between an executive control network and a network involved in rumination during an unrelated cognitive task. This could reflect continual attempts to inhibit ruminative thinking and shift back to the distraction task. Therefore, engagement in rumination may reflect failed inhibitory executive control.
反刍是一种消极的自我关注认知形式，它可以预测双相情感障碍（BD）患者的抑郁发作。BD 患者也存在抑制性执行控制受损的情况；因此，BD 中的反刍可能反映了执行功能障碍。我们研究了一种执行功能的神经测量指标（在费力任务中前额顶叶控制网络[FPCN]和默认模式网络[DMN]之间的功能连接）、执行功能的行为测量指标（行为评定量表的执行功能）和反刍（反刍反应量表）之间的关系。
15 名 BD 患者和 15 名健康对照者在进行 MRI 扫描时进行了精神分散。使用 CONN 工具箱，计算了网络间 FPCN-DMN 连接值。我们对连接值、BRIEF 和 RRS 评分进行了 Pearson b ivariate 相关性分析。
RRS 评分与 BRIEF 行为调节指数（BRI）评分呈正相关。在 BD 患者中，分心时 FPCN-DMN 功能连接与 BRIEF BRI 评分呈正相关。FPCN-DMN 功能连接也与 RRS 沉思性反刍评分呈正相关。健康对照组在这些行为和神经执行功能与反刍的测量指标之间没有显示出显著的相关性。
对于 BD 患者，反刍倾向越大，执行功能障碍越高，在无关认知任务中，执行控制网络与参与反刍的网络之间的连接越强。这可能反映了持续试图抑制反刍思维并重新回到分心任务。因此，参与反刍可能反映了抑制性执行控制的失败。
