Reduced amygdala-prefrontal coupling in major depression: association with MAOA genotype and illness severity.
The amygdala plays a pivotal role in a cortico-limbic circuitry implicated in emotion processing and regulation. In the present study, functional connectivity of the amygdala with prefrontal areas involved in emotion regulation was investigated during a facial expression processing task in a sample of 34 depressed inpatients and 31 healthy controls. All patients were genotyped for a common functional variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism in the promoter region of the monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA u-VNTR) which has been previously associated with major depression as well as reduced cortico-limbic connectivity in healthy subjects. In our control group, we observed tight coupling of the amygdala and dorsal prefrontal areas comprising the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), dorsal parts of the anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), and lateral orbitofrontal cortex. Amygdala-prefrontal connectivity was significantly reduced in depressed patients and carriers of the higher active MAOA risk alleles (MAOA-H). Hence, depressed MAOA-H carriers showed the weakest amygdala-prefrontal coupling of the investigated subgroups. Furthermore, reduced coupling of this circuitry predicted more than 40% variance of clinical variables characterizing a longer and more severe course of disease. We conclude that genetic variation in the MAOA gene may affect the course of major depression by disrupting cortico-limbic connectivity.
Dannlowski
Udo
U
Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Germany.
Ohrmann
Patricia
P
Konrad
Carsten
C
Domschke
Katharina
K
Bauer
Jochen
J
Kugel
Harald
H
Hohoff
Christa
C
Schöning
Sonja
S
Kersting
Anette
A
Baune
Bernhard T
BT
Mortensen
Lena S
LS
Arolt
Volker
V
Zwitserlood
Pienie
P
Deckert
Jürgen
J
Heindel
Walter
W
Suslow
Thomas
T
D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D000679:Amygdala / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002908:Chronic Disease; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000235:genetics*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase