Philippi Carissa L, Bruss Joel, Brandauer Carrie, Trapp Nicholas T, Tranel Daniel, Boes Aaron D
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 1 University Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri, 63121, USA.
Department of Neurology, University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, Iowa, 52242, Iowa City, IA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, Iowa, 52242, Iowa City, IA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Drive Iowa City, Iowa, 52242, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Neuropsychologia. 2025 Jul 29;214:109168. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109168. Epub 2025 May 9.
Depressive disorders have been consistently associated with elevated levels of mind-wandering and self-focused negative rumination. Separate tracks of research have implicated brain structures within the default mode network (DMN) in both mind-wandering and depression. In this study, we hypothesized that diminished mind-wandering and fewer depressive symptoms would co-occur in individuals with damage to the DMN. To test this hypothesis, we used a k-means clustering algorithm to identify a target group of patients with reduced mind-wandering and fewer depressive symptoms relative to brain-damaged comparison subjects (n = 37 of 68; ps < .001). The anatomical localization of lesions for this target group was predominantly within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Structural and functional lesion network mapping results revealed that lesions of the target group had significantly greater connectivity with DMN and limbic regions. Taken together, these results suggest that brain injury affecting the mPFC and DMN is associated with both reduced mind-wandering and fewer depressive symptoms. Further investigation of neuroanatomical substrates that mediate a causal relationship between mind-wandering and mood may facilitate the identification of new therapeutic targets for neuromodulation in patients with disorders characterized by maladaptive mind-wandering, such as rumination.
抑郁症一直与思维游荡水平升高和自我聚焦的消极反刍有关。不同的研究线索表明，默认模式网络（DMN）中的脑结构在思维游荡和抑郁症中都有牵连。在本研究中，我们假设DMN受损的个体思维游荡减少且抑郁症状较少会同时出现。为了验证这一假设，我们使用k均值聚类算法确定了一组目标患者，相对于脑损伤对照受试者，他们的思维游荡减少且抑郁症状较少（68例中有37例；p值<0.001）。该目标组病变的解剖定位主要在内侧前额叶皮质（mPFC）。结构和功能病变网络映射结果显示，目标组的病变与DMN和边缘区域的连接性显著更高。综上所述，这些结果表明，影响mPFC和DMN的脑损伤与思维游荡减少和抑郁症状较少有关。进一步研究介导思维游荡与情绪之间因果关系的神经解剖学底物，可能有助于确定以适应不良的思维游荡（如反刍）为特征的疾病患者神经调节的新治疗靶点。
