Multimetric structural covariance in first-episode major depressive disorder: a graph theoretical analysis

Chujun Chen¹, Zhening Liu¹, Chang Xi¹, Wenjian Tan¹, Zebin Fan¹, Yixin Cheng¹, Jun Yang², Lena Palaniyappan², Jie Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ From the Department of Psychiatry, Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China (Chen, Liu, Xi, Tan, Fan, Cheng, Jun Yang, Jie Yang); the National Clinical Research Centre for Mental Disorders, Changsha, China (Chen, Liu, Xi, Tan, Fan, Cheng, Jun Yang, Jie Yang); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ont. (Palaniyappan); the Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ont. (Palaniyappan); the Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ont. (Palaniyappan); the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec (Palaniyappan).
² From the Department of Psychiatry, Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China (Chen, Liu, Xi, Tan, Fan, Cheng, Jun Yang, Jie Yang); the National Clinical Research Centre for Mental Disorders, Changsha, China (Chen, Liu, Xi, Tan, Fan, Cheng, Jun Yang, Jie Yang); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ont. (Palaniyappan); the Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ont. (Palaniyappan); the Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ont. (Palaniyappan); the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec (Palaniyappan) lena.palaniyappan@mcgill.ca yang0826@csu.edu.cn.

PMID: 35508328
PMCID: PMC9074807
DOI: 10.1503/jpn.210204

Multimetric structural covariance in first-episode major depressive disorder: a graph theoretical analysis

Chujun Chen et al. J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2022.

. 2022 May 4;47(3):E176-E185.

doi: 10.1503/jpn.210204. Print 2022 May-Jun.

Authors

Chujun Chen¹, Zhening Liu¹, Chang Xi¹, Wenjian Tan¹, Zebin Fan¹, Yixin Cheng¹, Jun Yang², Lena Palaniyappan², Jie Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ From the Department of Psychiatry, Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China (Chen, Liu, Xi, Tan, Fan, Cheng, Jun Yang, Jie Yang); the National Clinical Research Centre for Mental Disorders, Changsha, China (Chen, Liu, Xi, Tan, Fan, Cheng, Jun Yang, Jie Yang); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ont. (Palaniyappan); the Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ont. (Palaniyappan); the Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ont. (Palaniyappan); the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec (Palaniyappan).
² From the Department of Psychiatry, Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China (Chen, Liu, Xi, Tan, Fan, Cheng, Jun Yang, Jie Yang); the National Clinical Research Centre for Mental Disorders, Changsha, China (Chen, Liu, Xi, Tan, Fan, Cheng, Jun Yang, Jie Yang); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ont. (Palaniyappan); the Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ont. (Palaniyappan); the Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ont. (Palaniyappan); the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec (Palaniyappan) lena.palaniyappan@mcgill.ca yang0826@csu.edu.cn.

PMID: 35508328
PMCID: PMC9074807
DOI: 10.1503/jpn.210204

Abstract

Background: Abnormalities of cortical morphology have been consistently reported in major depressive disorder (MDD), with widespread focal alterations in cortical thickness, surface area and gyrification. However, it is unclear whether these distributed focal changes disrupt the system-level architecture (topology) of brain morphology in MDD. If present, such a topological disruption might explain the mechanisms that underlie altered cortical morphology in MDD.

Methods: Seventy-six patients with first-episode MDD (33 male, 43 female) and 66 healthy controls (32 male, 34 female) underwent structural MRI scans. We calculated cortical indices, including cortical thickness, surface area and local gyrification index, using FreeSurfer. We constructed morphological covariance networks using the 3 cortical indices separately, and we analyzed the topological properties of these group-level morphological covariance networks using graph theoretical approaches.

Results: Topological differences between patients with first-episode MDD and healthy controls were restricted to the thickness-based network. We found a significant decrease in global efficiency but an increase in local efficiency of the left superior frontal gyrus and the right paracentral lobule in patients with first-episode MDD. When we simulated targeted lesions affecting the most highly connected nodes, the thickness-based networks in patients with first-episode MDD disintegrated more rapidly than those in healthy controls.

Limitations: Our sample of patients with first-episode MDD has limited generalizability to patients with chronic and recurrent MDD.

Conclusion: A systems-level disruption in cortical thickness (but not surface area or gyrification) occurs in patients with first-episode MDD.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: L. Palaniyappan reports personal salary support from the Tanna Schulich Chair of Neuroscience and Mental Health (Schulich School of Medicine, 2019–2022) and Monique H. Bourgeois Chair (McGill University, 2022); royalties from Oxford University Press for books published; consulting fees from SPMM Course Limited; honoraria for presentations for Janssen Canada, Otsuka Canada and the Canadian Psychiatric Association; and membership on an advisory board for Janssen Canada. L. Palaniyappan is on the editorial board of the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience but was not involved in the review or the decision to publish. No other competing interests declared.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Topological properties and simulated lesion analysis of the thickness-based covariance network. The left panel shows the results of the morphology covariance network constructed on the Destrieux Atlas with 148 regions of interest. The right panel shows the results of the morphology covariance network constructed on the Desikan–Killiany Atlas with 68 regions of interest. The first row shows the results of comparing the average of local efficiencies between patients with first-episode MDD and healthy controls; we detected no significant differences. The second row shows the results of comparing global efficiency between patients with first-episode MDD and healthy controls; we detected a consistently significant difference in both atlases. The third row shows the results of targeted attack, and the fourth row shows the results of random attack; in patients with first-episode MDD we detected decreased resistance to targeted attack in both atlases, but decreased resistance to random attack only in the Destrieux Atlas. FDA = functional data analysis; HC = healthy control; MDD = major depressive disorder.

**Figure 2**
Nodes with significant altered local efficiency of the thickness-based morphology covariance network. The left panel shows the results of the morphology covariance network constructed on the Destrieux Atlas with 148 regions of interest. The right panel shows the results of the morphology covariance network constructed on the Desikan–Killiany Atlas with 68 regions of interest. The upper row shows increased local efficiency of the left superior frontal gyrus in patients with first-episode MDD. The bottom row shows increased local efficiency of the right paracentral lobule in patients with first-episode MDD. The nodes with increased local efficiency are highlighted in yellow circles in the brain images. FDA = functional data analysis; HC = healthy control; MDD = major depressive disorder.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Multimetric structural covariance in first-episode major depressive disorder: a graph theoretical analysis

Affiliations

Multimetric structural covariance in first-episode major depressive disorder: a graph theoretical analysis

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources