Cited by 116Functional Brain Connectivity StudiesNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesTreatment of Major Depression

A meta-analysis of changes in brain activity in clinical depression

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Palmer, Susan M., Crewther, Sheila G., Carey, Leeanne M., The START Project Team·2015·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Abstract

Insights into neurobiological mechanisms of depression are increasingly being sought via brain imaging studies. Our aim was to quantitatively summarize overlap and divergence in regions of altered brain activation associated with depression under emotionally valenced compared to cognitively demanding task conditions, and with reference to intrinsic functional connectivity. We hypothesized differences reflective of task demands. A co-ordinate-based meta-analysis technique, activation likelihood estimation, was used to analyze relevant imaging literature. These studies compared brain activity in depressed adults relative to healthy controls during three conditions: (i) emotionally valenced (cognitively easy) tasks (n = 29); (ii) cognitively demanding tasks (n = 15); and (iii) resting conditions (n = 21). The meta-analyses identified five, eight, and seven significant clusters of altered brain activity under emotion, cognition, and resting conditions, respectively, in depressed individuals compared to healthy controls. Regions of overlap and divergence between pairs of the three separate meta-analyses were quantified. There were no significant regions of overlap between emotion and cognition meta-analyses, but several divergent clusters were found. Cognitively demanding conditions were associated with greater activation of right medial frontal and insula regions while bilateral amygdala was more significantly altered during emotion (cognitively undemanding) conditions; consistent with task demands. Overlap was present in left amygdala and right subcallosal cingulate between emotion and resting meta-analyses, with no significant divergence. Our meta-analyses highlight alteration of common brain regions, during cognitively undemanding emotional tasks and resting conditions but divergence of regions between emotional and cognitively demanding tasks. Regions altered reflect current biological and system-level models of depression and highlight the relationship with task condition and difficulty.

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  1. First M. B. Spitzer R. L. Gibbon M. Williams J. B. (1995). Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV axis I disorders, Patient Edition, January 1995 FINAL: SCID-I/P Version 2.0. New York: Biometrics Research Department, New York State Psychiatric Institute.
  2. Hamani C. Mayberg H. Stone S. Laxton A. Haber S. Lozano A. M. (2011). The subcallosal cingulate gyrus in the context of major depression. Biol. Psychiatry 69, 301– 308 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.09.034 21145043 · DOI · Paper page

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Authors
Palmer, S. M., Crewther, S. G., Carey, L. M., & The START Project Team
Affiliations
  • Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health (AU)
  • La Trobe University (AU)
Corresponding author
Carey, Leeanne M.
Venue
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Published
2015-01-14
Volume
8
Pages
1045-1045
ISSN
1662-5161 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2089081705
Cited by
116
References
138
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 6
FWCI
1.38
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
  • State Government of Victoria
  • Australian Research Council (FT0992299)
  • National Health and Medical Research Council (1022694)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
Keywords
major depressive disorder, brain activation, cognitively demanding tasks, resting state, intrinsic functional connectivity, amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, insula, subcallosal cingulate, task demands

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