Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine 92697, USA; Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine 92697, USA.
Division of Depression and Anxiety Disorders, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA 02478, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
J Affect Disord. 2024 Dec 1;366:1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.08.113. Epub 2024 Aug 26.
Anhedonia stands as a life-threatening transdiagnostic feature of many mental illnesses, most notably major depression and involves neural circuits for processing reward information. The paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) is associated with reward-seeking behavior, however, links between the PVT circuit and anhedonia have not been investigated in humans.
In a sample of adults with and without psychiatric symptoms (n = 75, 18-41 years, 55 female), we generated an anhedonia factor score for each participant using a latent factor analysis, utilizing data from depression and anxiety assessments. Functional connectivity between the PVT and the nucleus accumbens (NAc) was calculated from high-resolution (1.5 mm) resting state fMRI.
Anhedonia factor scores showed a positive relationship with functional connectivity between the PVT and the NAc, principally in males and in those with psychiatric symptoms. In males, connectivity between other midline thalamic nuclei and the NAc did not show these relationships, suggesting that this link may be specific to PVT.
This cohort was originally recruited to study depression and not anhedonia per se. The distribution of male and female participants in our cohort was not equal. Partial acquisition in high-resolution fMRI scans restricted regions of interest outside of the thalamus and reward networks.
We report evidence that anhedonia is associated with enhanced functional connectivity between the PVT and the NAc, regions that are relevant to reward processing. These results offer clues as to the potential prevention and prevention and treatment of anhedonia.
快感缺失是许多精神疾病的一种危及生命的跨诊断特征，尤其是重度抑郁症，涉及处理奖励信息的神经回路。丘脑室旁核（PVT）与寻求奖励的行为有关，然而，人类尚未研究 PVT 回路与快感缺失之间的联系。
在一组有和没有精神症状的成年人样本中（n=75，18-41 岁，55 名女性），我们使用潜在因子分析为每个参与者生成了一个快感缺失因子得分，利用抑郁和焦虑评估的数据。从高分辨率（1.5 毫米）静息态 fMRI 计算 PVT 和伏隔核（NAc）之间的功能连接。
快感缺失因子得分与 PVT 和 NAc 之间的功能连接呈正相关，主要在男性和有精神症状的人群中。在男性中，其他中线丘脑核与 NAc 之间的连接没有显示出这些关系，这表明这种联系可能是 PVT 特有的。
本队列最初是为了研究抑郁症而不是快感缺失本身而招募的。我们队列中男性和女性参与者的分布并不均衡。高分辨率 fMRI 扫描的部分采集限制了除了丘脑和奖励网络之外的感兴趣区域。
我们报告的证据表明，快感缺失与 PVT 和 NAc 之间增强的功能连接有关，这些区域与奖励处理有关。这些结果为快感缺失的潜在预防和治疗提供了线索。
