Breit Sigrid, Denier Niklaus, Mertse Nicolas, Walther Sebastian, Soravia Leila M, Federspiel Andrea, Wiest Roland, Bracht Tobias
University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Translational Imaging Center (TIC), Swiss Institute for Translational and Entrepreneurial Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Brain Imaging Behav. 2025 Mar 31. doi: 10.1007/s11682-025-00999-7.
Anhedonia is a core feature of depression. It contains a consummatory and a motivational aspect. Whilst much neuroimaging research in patients with depression focused on the consummatory aspect of anhedonia, less is known about its motivational aspect. This study aimed to explore the neurobiology of networks related to motivational anhedonia. Thirty-eight patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 19 healthy controls underwent diffusion-weighted and resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). For assessment of motivational anhedonia, we summed the values of the CORE non-interactiveness score, and the items 1 (hopelessness) and 7 (work and activities) of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Whole-brain voxel-wise statistical analysis of fractional anisotropy (FA) data was performed using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS). Additionally, we performed a whole-brain comparison of integrated local correlation of rs-fMRI signal (LCOR), to investigate regional functional differences between patients and healthy controls. Whole brain correlations between motivational anhedonia and measures of structural and functional connectivity (FA, and LCOR) were calculated. TBSS-analyses revealed reduced FA in the left superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) in patients with MDD. LCOR was reduced in patients with depression in an adjacent cluster localized in bilateral precunei. Within patients, there was a positive correlation between motivational anhedonia and LCOR in the precunei and a negative correlation in bilateral sensorimotor areas. FA-values did not show significant correlations. These findings suggest that motivational anhedonia in depression is linked to alterations of functional connectivity within bilateral precunei. Observed white matter microstructural alterations in the SLF do not show such an association.
快感缺失是抑郁症的核心特征。它包括体验性和动机性两个方面。虽然抑郁症患者的许多神经影像学研究集中在快感缺失的体验性方面，但对其动机性方面的了解较少。本研究旨在探索与动机性快感缺失相关的神经生物学机制。38名重度抑郁症（MDD）患者和19名健康对照者接受了扩散加权和静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）检查。为了评估动机性快感缺失，我们将CORE非互动性评分以及汉密尔顿抑郁量表的第1项（绝望感）和第7项（工作和活动）的得分相加。使用基于束的空间统计学（TBSS）对分数各向异性（FA）数据进行全脑体素水平的统计分析。此外，我们对rs-fMRI信号的整合局部相关性（LCOR）进行了全脑比较，以研究患者与健康对照者之间的区域功能差异。计算了动机性快感缺失与结构和功能连接性指标（FA和LCOR）之间的全脑相关性。TBSS分析显示，MDD患者左侧上纵束（SLF）的FA降低。抑郁症患者双侧楔前叶相邻区域的LCOR降低。在患者内部，楔前叶的动机性快感缺失与LCOR呈正相关，而在双侧感觉运动区域呈负相关。FA值未显示出显著相关性。这些发现表明，抑郁症中的动机性快感缺失与双侧楔前叶内的功能连接改变有关。在SLF中观察到的白质微观结构改变并未显示出这种关联。
