RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Data-driven clustering reveals a link between symptoms and functional brain connectivity in depression
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 267591
DO 10.1101/267591
A1 Luigi A. Maglanoc
A1 Nils Inge Landrø
A1 Rune Jonassen
A1 Tobias Kaufmann
A1 Aldo Cordova-Palomera
A1 Eva Hilland
A1 Lars T. Westlye
YR 2018
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/02/19/267591.abstract
AB Background Depression is a complex disorder with large inter-individual variability in symptom profiles that often occur alongside symptoms of other psychiatric domains such as anxiety. A dimensional and symptom-based approach may help refine the characterization and classification of depressive and anxiety disorders and thus aid in establishing robust biomarkers. We assess the brain functional connectivity correlates of a symptom-based clustering of individuals using functional brain imaging data.Methods We assessed symptoms of depression and anxiety using Beck’s Depression and Beck’s Anxiety inventories in individuals with or without a history of depression, and high dimensional data clustering to form subgroups based on symptom profiles. To assess the biological relevance of this subtyping, we compared functional magnetic resonance imaging-based dynamic and static functional connectivity between subgroups in a subset of the total sample.Results We identified five subgroups with distinct symptom profiles, cutting across diagnostic boundaries and differing in terms of total severity, symptom patterns and centrality. For instance, inability to relax, fear of the worst, and feelings of guilt were among the most severe symptoms in subgroup 1, 2 and 3, respectively. These subgroups showed evidence of differential static brain connectivity patterns, in particular comprising a fronto-temporal network. In contrast, we found no significant associations with clinical sum scores, dynamic functional connectivity or global connectivity measures.Conclusion Adding to the ongoing pursuit of individual-based treatment, the results show subtyping based on a dimensional conceptualization and unique constellations of anxiety and depression symptoms is supported by distinct brain static functional connectivity patterns.