title: Functional and anatomical brain deficits in drug-naive major depressive disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Functional and anatomical deficits have been involved in the neurobiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, no study has ever been conducted to examine whether and how functional alterations are related to anatomical deficits in MDD. This study aimed to determine the association between brain functional and anatomical deficits in drug-naive MDD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-four patients with MDD and 44 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls underwent structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. The voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) methods were used to analyze the imaging data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  VBM analysis showed gray matter volume (GMV) reductions in the parietal-temporal regions (i.e., the right inferior temporal gyrus and the left angular gyrus). Functional alterations revealed by ALFF mainly occurred in the temporal regions (i.e., the left middle temporal gyrus and the right superior temporal gyrus) and the cerebellum (i.e., the culmen). There is no overlap between brain regions with functional alterations and anatomical deficits in the patients and their subgroups (first-episode depression and recurrent depression). The episode number and the illness duration were correlated with the mean GMV values of the left angular gyrus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A dissociation pattern of brain functional and anatomical deficits is observed in MDD. Our findings suggest that brain functional and anatomical deficits contribute independently to the neurobiology of MDD.
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China. Electronic address: guowenbin76@163.com.
authors.forename: Wenbin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China.
authors.forename: Miaoyu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China.
authors.forename: Zhikun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China.
authors.forename: Jianrong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China.
authors.forename: Changqing
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Institute of the Second Xiangya Hospital, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.
authors.forename: Jingping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D012146:Rest; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation; Gray matter; Major depressive disorder; Voxel-based morphometry