title: Neural mechanisms of subclinical depressive symptoms in women: a pilot functional brain imaging study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Studies of individuals who do not meet criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) but with subclinical levels of depressive symptoms may aid in the identification of neurofunctional abnormalities that possibly precede and predict the development of MDD. The purpose of this study was to evaluate relations between subclinical levels of depressive symptoms and neural activation patterns during tasks previously shown to differentiate individuals with and without MDD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess neural activations during active emotion regulation, a resting state scan, and reward processing. Participants were twelve females with a range of depressive symptoms who did not meet criteria for MDD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Increased depressive symptom severity predicted (1) decreased left midfrontal gyrus activation during reappraisal of sad stimuli; (2) increased right midfrontal gyrus activation during distraction from sad stimuli; (3) increased functional connectivity between a precuneus seed region and left orbitofrontal cortex during a resting state scan; and (4) increased paracingulate activation during non-win outcomes during a reward-processing task.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These pilot data shed light on relations between subclinical levels of depressive symptoms in the absence of a formal MDD diagnosis and neural activation patterns. Future studies will be needed to test the utility of these activation patterns for predicting MDD onset in at-risk samples.
authors.affiliation: Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7160, USA. Jennifer.Felder@colorado.edu
authors.forename: Jennifer N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Felder
authors.forename: Moria J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Smoski
authors.forename: Rachel V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Kozink
authors.forename: Brett
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Froeliger
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McClernon
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bizzell
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Petty
authors.forename: Gabriel S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Dichter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003863:Depression / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012720:Severity of Illness Index