Linked patterns of symptoms and cognitive covariation with functional brain controllability in major depressive disorderResearch in context
Qian Li,
Youjin Zhao,
Yongbo Hu,
Yang Liu,
Yaxuan Wang,
Qian Zhang,
Fenghua Long,
Yufei Chen,
Yitian Wang,
Haoran Li,
Eline M.P. Poels,
Astrid M. Kamperman,
John A. Sweeney,
Weihong Kuang,
Fei Li,
Qiyong Gong
Affiliations
Qian Li
Department of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, PR China; Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, PR China
Youjin Zhao
Department of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, PR China; Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, PR China
Yongbo Hu
Department of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, PR China; Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, PR China
Yang Liu
Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science Chinese, Academy of Science, Beijing, China
Yaxuan Wang
Department of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, PR China; Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, PR China
Qian Zhang
Department of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, PR China; Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, PR China
Fenghua Long
Department of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, PR China; Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, PR China
Yufei Chen
Department of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, PR China; Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, PR China
Yitian Wang
Department of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, PR China; Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, PR China
Haoran Li
Department of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, PR China; Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, PR China
Eline M.P. Poels
Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Astrid M. Kamperman
Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
John A. Sweeney
Department of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, PR China; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45219, USA
Weihong Kuang
Department of Psychiatry, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, PR China
Fei Li
Department of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, PR China; Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, PR China; Corresponding author. Department of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No 37 Guoxue Alley, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, PR China.
Qiyong Gong
Department of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, PR China; Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, PR China; Department of Radiology, West China Xiamen Hospital of Sichuan University, Xiamen, Fujian, China; Corresponding author. Department of Radiology, West China Xiamen Hospital of Sichuan University, 699 Jinyuan Xi Road, Jimei District, 361021, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
Summary: Background: Controllability analysis is an approach developed for evaluating the ability of a brain region to modulate function in other regions, which has been found to be altered in major depressive disorder (MDD). Both depressive symptoms and cognitive impairments are prominent features of MDD, but the case–control differences of controllability between MDD and controls can not fully interpret the contribution of both clinical symptoms and cognition to brain controllability and linked patterns among them in MDD. Methods: Sparse canonical correlation analysis was used to investigate the associations between resting-state functional brain controllability at the network level and clinical symptoms and cognition in 99 first-episode medication-naïve patients with MDD. Findings: Average controllability was significantly correlated with clinical features. The average controllability of the dorsal attention network (DAN) and visual network had the highest correlations with clinical variables. Among clinical variables, depressed mood, suicidal ideation and behaviour, impaired work and activities, and gastrointestinal symptoms were significantly negatively associated with average controllability, and reduced cognitive flexibility was associated with reduced average controllability. Interpretation: These findings highlight the importance of brain regions in modulating activity across brain networks in MDD, given their associations with symptoms and cognitive impairments observed in our study. Disrupted control of brain reconfiguration of DAN and visual network during their state transitions may represent a core brain mechanism for the behavioural impairments observed in MDD. Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China (82001795 and 82027808), National Key R&D Program (2022YFC2009900), and Sichuan Science and Technology Program (2024NSFSC0653).
