Ahn Joo-Yeon, Kang Youbin, Kim Aram, Tae Woo-Suk, Han Kyu-Man, Ham Byung-Joo
Department of Psychiatry, Korea University Anam Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Psychiatry Investig. 2024 Feb;21(2):133-141. doi: 10.30773/pi.2023.0229. Epub 2024 Feb 8.
This study investigated the association between white matter tract integrity and frontal executive function in adult non-geriatric patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and healthy controls (HCs) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
In total, 57 patients with MDD and 115 HCs participated in this study. We calculated the integrity of the white matter tracts using the Tracts Constrained by Underlying Anatomy tool (TRACULA) from FreeSurfer. We performed cognitive function tests. Oneway analysis of covariance was used to investigate the DTI parameters as dependent variables; diagnosis of MDD as an independent variable; and age, sex, and education level as covariates. For correlation analysis between the DTI parameters and cognitive function tests, Pearson's partial correlation analyses were performed in the MDD and HC groups.
The patients with MDD showed significantly decreased axial diffusivity (AD) in forceps major (FMajor), left corticospinal tract (CST), left superior longitudinal fasciculus-parietal bundle (SLFP), right anterior thalamic radiation (ATR), right CST, right inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) and right superior longitudinal fasciculus-temporal bundle (SLFT) and mean diffusivity (MD) in the left CST, right CST, and right SLFT compared to HCs. We found that non-geriatric patients with MDD showed a significant negative correlation between the response time in the Stroop task and the AD value of the FMajor.
Our findings suggest that impaired structural connectivity in the FMajor may be associated with cognitive dysfunction in non-geriatric patients with MDD.
本研究使用扩散张量成像（DTI），调查成年非老年重度抑郁症（MDD）患者和健康对照者（HCs）白质束完整性与额叶执行功能之间的关联。
共有57例MDD患者和115例HCs参与本研究。我们使用FreeSurfer的基于解剖结构约束的束分析工具（TRACULA）计算白质束的完整性。我们进行了认知功能测试。采用单因素协方差分析，以DTI参数为因变量，MDD诊断为自变量，年龄、性别和教育水平作为协变量。为了分析DTI参数与认知功能测试之间的相关性，在MDD组和HC组中进行了Pearson偏相关分析。
与HCs相比，MDD患者在胼胝体压部（FMajor）、左侧皮质脊髓束（CST）、左侧上纵束-顶叶束（SLFP）、右侧丘脑前辐射（ATR）、右侧CST、右侧下纵束（ILF）和右侧上纵束-颞叶束（SLFT）中的轴向扩散率（AD）显著降低，在左侧CST、右侧CST和右侧SLFT中的平均扩散率（MD）也显著降低。我们发现，非老年MDD患者在Stroop任务中的反应时间与FMajor的AD值之间存在显著负相关。
我们的研究结果表明，FMajor结构连接受损可能与非老年MDD患者的认知功能障碍有关。
