
Patients suffering from Major
Depressive Disorder are most likely to have decreased or disruptive
connectivity between the striatum and the frontal cortex of the brain, according to Daniella Furman and colleagues
from the Department of Psychology, Stanford University.
Feeling sad occasionally is normal, but if the sadness is prolonged with
additional symptoms of negative thinking, fatigue and withdrawal, it becomes a
matter of concern. These symptoms are characteristics of a serious mood
disorder called Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). MDD is associated with
cognitive and psychomotor dysfunction and people diagnosed with this disorder
often exhibit problems with executive functions such as difficulties in
concentrating and making decisions, and terminating the processing of negative
material.
Earlier studies found that people with depression had anomalies in the structure and function of the frontal lobes of the brain. The frontal lobe, that hosts the basal ganglia, controls activities such as reasoning, planning, movement, as well as cognitive and emotional functions. Striatum is the main component of basal ganglia (a mass of nerve cells in the cerebral hemispheres) situated at the base of the forebrain. The striatum receives input from the frontal cortex (or cerebral cortex) and sends output to other components of the basal ganglia thus forming a 'circuit'. Some studies have implicated anomalous functioning of the striatum in MDD, but these studies were inconclusive.
The researchers obtained the Blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal data with 3 Tesla General Electric magnetic resonance imaging scanners. All data preprocessing and analysis were carried out using Analysis of Functional NeuroImages software. This study was published in the journal Biology of Mood & Anxiety Disorders.
The results showed that women with MDD had decreased connectivity between ventral striatum and other key regions of the frontal cortex responsible for emotional behavior, learning, memory and decision making.
However, there were certain limitations to this study.
• One of them was that all study subjects were women, so these findings may or may not extend to men.
• Another limitation was that the participants were receiving different psychoactive medications, and researchers are not sure if they might selectively bear on a patient's 'frontostriatal function'.
The authors concluded - 'Despite these limitations, however, the results of the present study provide important empirical support for the hypothesis that MDD is characterized, and even maintained, by compromised frontostriatal function'.
Source: Furman, D. J., Hamilton, J. P., and Gotlib I. H. Frontostriatal functional connectivity in Major Depressive Disorder. Biology of Mood & Anxiety Disorders 2011, 1:11 doi:10.1186/2045-5380-1-11 http://www.biolmoodanxietydisord.com/content/pdf/2045-5380-1-11.pdf
Source: Medindia
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APA
Mita Majumdar. (2012, January 24). Aberrant Connectivity Between Key Regions of the Brain Responsible for Major Depressive Disorder. Medindia. Retrieved on Jun 27, 2022 from https://www.medindia.net/news/healthwatch/aberrant-connectivity-between-key-regions-of-the-brain-responsible-for-major-depressive-disorder-96519-1.htm.
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MLA
Mita Majumdar. "Aberrant Connectivity Between Key Regions of the Brain Responsible for Major Depressive Disorder". Medindia. Jun 27, 2022. <https://www.medindia.net/news/healthwatch/aberrant-connectivity-between-key-regions-of-the-brain-responsible-for-major-depressive-disorder-96519-1.htm>.
Chicago
Mita Majumdar. "Aberrant Connectivity Between Key Regions of the Brain Responsible for Major Depressive Disorder". Medindia. https://www.medindia.net/news/healthwatch/aberrant-connectivity-between-key-regions-of-the-brain-responsible-for-major-depressive-disorder-96519-1.htm. (accessed Jun 27, 2022).
Harvard
Mita Majumdar. 2021. Aberrant Connectivity Between Key Regions of the Brain Responsible for Major Depressive Disorder. Medindia, viewed Jun 27, 2022, https://www.medindia.net/news/healthwatch/aberrant-connectivity-between-key-regions-of-the-brain-responsible-for-major-depressive-disorder-96519-1.htm.