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. 2022 Dec:156:570-578.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.10.070. Epub 2022 Nov 3.

Neural signal variability relates to maladaptive rumination in depression

Carissa L Philippi  1 , Katie Leutzinger  2 , Sally Pessin  2 , Alexis Cassani  2 , Olivia Mikel  2 , Erin C Walsh  3 , Roxanne M Hoks  4 , Rasmus M Birn  5 , Heather C Abercrombie  4
Affiliations

Neural signal variability relates to maladaptive rumination in depression

Carissa L Philippi et al. J Psychiatr Res. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Rumination is a common feature of depression and predicts the onset and maintenance of depressive episodes. Maladaptive and adaptive subtypes of rumination contribute to distinct outcomes, with brooding worsening negative mood and reflection related to fewer depression symptoms in healthy populations. Neuroimaging studies have implicated several cortical midline and lateral prefrontal brain regions in rumination. Recent research indicates that blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal variability may be a novel predictor of cognitive flexibility. However, no prior studies have investigated whether brooding and reflection are associated with distinct patterns of BOLD signal variability in depression. We collected resting-state fMRI data for 79 women with different depression histories: no history, past history, and current depression. We examined differences in BOLD signal variability (BOLDSD) related to rumination subtypes for the following regions of interest previously implicated in rumination: amygdala, medial prefrontal, anterior cingulate, posterior cingulate, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (dlPFC). Rumination subtype was associated with BOLDSD in the dlPFC, with greater levels of brooding associated with lower BOLDSD in the dlPFC, even after controlling for depression severity. Depression history was related to BOLDSD in the dlPFC, with reduced BOLDSD in those with current depression versus no history of depression. These findings provide a novel demonstration of the neural circuitry associated with maladaptive rumination in depression and implicate decreased prefrontal neural signal variability in the pathophysiology of depression.

Keywords: BOLD variability; Brooding; Depression; Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Neural signal variability; Rumination.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Brooding is associated with BOLD signal variability in dlPFC.
(a) Left dlPFC seed region of interest in red (x = −31, y = 46, z = 23). (b) Raw data points (in black) are plotted along with the regression line showing the relationship between brooding rumination and the standard deviation of the BOLD signal in the dlPFC across the sample. Error bands represent 1 standard error (SE) above and below the point estimate of the model (in grey).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Depression history is related to BOLD signal variability in dlPFC.
Bar graphs plot the mean standard deviation of the BOLD signal in the left dlPFC seed during the rs-fMRI scan for NoDep (white), PastDep (light gray), and CurrentDep (dark gray) depression history groups and error bars correspond to ± 1 standard error. Lines above the bar graph show the pairwise comparisons of BOLD signal variability between depression history groups, * = p < .05 and ns = non-significant (p > .05).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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