Li Lujun, Zeng Zhijun, Zhou Yaling, Lin Jinfei, Li Jiayuan
Chengdu Southwest Children's Rehabilitation Hospital, Chengdu, China.
The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, China National Nuclear Corporation 416 Hospital, Chengdu, China.
Front Psychiatry. 2025 Jun 9;16:1539702. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1539702. eCollection 2025.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent mental health condition characterized by persistent low mood, diminished interest in pleasurable activities, and anhedonia. Some patients with depression experience high levels of anxiety, complicating clinical treatment. However, the underlying pathological mechanisms remain unclear.
The sample comprised 178 participants, including 73 MDD with high anxiety symptom subjects, 55 MDD with low anxiety symptom, and 50 healthy controls registered from multiple sites based on the REST-meta-MDD Project in China. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data were recorded. Large-scale static and dynamic functional connectivity analyses were conducted to identify specific brain connectivity distinguishing MDD with low and high anxiety symptoms.
While MDD patients with high and low anxiety symptoms exhibit overlapping alterations in dynamic functional connectivity between the auditory cortex and nodes of the salience network, their distinct clinical profiles may be associated with differential functional connectivity patterns between the components of the default mode network (DMN) and the visual network (VN), as well as between the components of the basal ganglia network (BGN) and VN.
The VN-DMN-BGN functional circuit may help elucidate the underlying pathological mechanisms associated with varying levels of anxiety in depressive disorders. Understanding this neural correlation could contribute to the development of targeted therapeutic strategies for MDD.
重度抑郁症（MDD）是一种常见的心理健康状况，其特征为持续情绪低落、对愉悦活动的兴趣减退以及快感缺失。一些抑郁症患者会经历高度焦虑，这使临床治疗变得复杂。然而，其潜在的病理机制仍不清楚。
样本包括178名参与者，其中73名是伴有高焦虑症状的MDD患者、55名是伴有低焦虑症状的MDD患者以及50名健康对照者，这些参与者是基于中国的REST-meta-MDD项目从多个地点招募的。记录静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）数据。进行大规模静态和动态功能连接分析，以识别区分伴有低焦虑症状和高焦虑症状的MDD的特定脑连接。
虽然伴有高焦虑症状和低焦虑症状的MDD患者在听觉皮层与突显网络节点之间的动态功能连接上表现出重叠改变，但它们不同的临床特征可能与默认模式网络（DMN）和视觉网络（VN）各组件之间以及基底神经节网络（BGN）和VN各组件之间的不同功能连接模式有关。
VN-DMN-BGN功能回路可能有助于阐明与抑郁症中不同焦虑水平相关的潜在病理机制。了解这种神经相关性有助于开发针对MDD的靶向治疗策略。
