Ilya M. Veer1,2, Christian F. Beckmann3,4,
Evelinda Baerends1,2, Marie J. van Tol1,5, Luca
Ferrarini6, Julien R. Milles6, Dick J. Veltman7,
Andre Aleman8, Mark A. van Buchem1,2, Nic J. van der
Wee1,5, Serge A. Rombouts1,2
1Leiden Institute for Brain and
Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, Netherlands; 2Department of Radiology,
Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, Netherlands; 3FMRIB,
University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; 4Department of
Clinical Neuroscience, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom; 5Department
of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, Netherlands; 6Department
of Radiology, Division of Image Processing, Leiden University Medical Center
(LUMC), Leiden, Netherlands; 7Department of Psychiatry, Free
University Medical Center (VUMC), Amsterdam, Netherlands; 8BCN
Neuroimaging Center, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Major
depression is associated with abnormal function of a large-scale mood
processing and regulating brain circuit of interconnected regions. Therefore,
resting-state (RS) functional connectivity networks were investigated in a
group of 19 medication-free patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder
without comorbidity, and 19 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Using
independent component, 13 relevant RS networks were found for the entire
group. Adopting a dual regression method, subject specific maps were
calculated and subsequently used for permutation analysis. We found decreased
functional connectivity in three networks, which may relate to the affective
and cognitive symptoms in major depression.