title: Functional coupling of the amygdala in depressed patients treated with antidepressant medication.
abstract: The amygdala plays a central role in various aspects of affect processing and mood regulation by its rich anatomical connections to other limbic and cortical regions. It is plausible that depressive disorders, and response to antidepressant drugs, may reflect changes in the physiological coupling between the amygdala and other components of affect-related large-scale brain systems. We explored this hypothesis by mapping the functional coupling of right and left amygdalae in functional magnetic resonance imaging data acquired from 19 patients with major depressive disorder and 19 healthy volunteers, each scanned twice (at baseline and 8 weeks later) during performance of an implicit facial affect processing task. Between scanning sessions, the patients received treatment with an antidepressant drug, fluoxetine 20 mg/day. We found that the amygdala was positively coupled bilaterally with medial temporal and ventral occipital regions, and negatively coupled with the anterior cingulate cortex. Antidepressant treatment was associated with significantly increased coupling between the amygdala and right frontal and cingulate cortex, striatum, and thalamus. Treatment-related increases in functional coupling to frontal and other regions were greater for the left amygdala than for the right amygdala. These results indicate that antidepressant drug effects can be measured in terms of altered coupling between components of cortico-limbic systems and that these effects were most clearly demonstrated by enhanced functional coupling of the left amygdala.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Brain Mapping Unit, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Chi-Hua
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suckling
authors.forename: Cinly
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ooi
authors.forename: Cynthia H Y
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Steve C R
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Nicholas D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Martina T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Mitterschiffthaler
authors.forename: Emilio Merlo
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Pich
authors.forename: Ed
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bullmore
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D005473:Fluoxetine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012938:Social Perception
chemical_list: D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D005473:Fluoxetine