White matter microstructure in obesity and bipolar disorders: an ENIGMA bipolar disorder working group study in 2186 individuals.

Although specific risk factors for brain alterations in bipolar disorders (BD) are currently unknown, obesity impacts the brain and is highly prevalent in BD. Gray matter correlates of obesity in BD have been well documented, but we know much less about brain white matter abnormalities in people who have both obesity and BD. We obtained body mass index (BMI) and diffusion tensor imaging derived fractional anisotropy (FA) from 22 white matter tracts in 899 individuals with BD, and 1287 control individuals from 20 cohorts in the ENIGMA-BD working group.

Associations between white matter microstructure and cognitive decline in major depressive disorder versus controls in Germany: a prospective case-control cohort study.

Background: Cognitive deficits are a key source of disability in individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) and worsen with disease progression. Despite their clinical relevance, the underlying mechanisms of cognitive deficits remain poorly elucidated, hampering effective treatment strategies. Emerging evidence suggests that alterations in white matter microstructure might contribute to cognitive dysfunction in MDD.

Interaction of perceived social support and childhood maltreatment on limbic responsivity towards negative emotional stimuli in healthy individuals.

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is associated with increased limbic activity, while social support is linked to decreased limbic activity towards negative stimuli. Our study aimed to explore the interaction of perceived social support with CM, and their combined impact on limbic activity in negative emotion processing. A total of 130 healthy individuals (HC) underwent a negative emotional face processing paradigm.

How movies move us - movie preferences are linked to differences in neuronal emotion processing of fear and anger: an fMRI study.

Introduction: As a source of audio-visual stimulation, movies expose people to various emotions. Interestingly, several genres are characterized by negative emotional content. Albeit theoretical approaches exist, little is known about preferences for specific movie genres and the neuronal processing of negative emotions.

The interplay between polygenic score for tumor necrosis factor-α, brain structural connectivity, and processing speed in major depression.

Reduced processing speed is a core deficit in major depressive disorder (MDD) and has been linked to altered structural brain network connectivity. Ample evidence highlights the involvement of genetic-immunological processes in MDD and specific depressive symptoms. Here, we extended these findings by examining associations between polygenic scores for tumor necrosis factor-α blood levels (TNF-α PGS), structural brain connectivity, and processing speed in a large sample of MDD patients.

White and gray matter alterations in bipolar I and bipolar II disorder subtypes compared with healthy controls - exploring associations with disease course and polygenic risk.

Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) show alterations in both gray matter volume (GMV) and white matter (WM) integrity compared with healthy controls (HC). However, it remains unclear whether the phenotypically distinct BD subtypes (BD-I and BD-II) also exhibit brain structural differences. This study investigated GMV and WM differences between HC, BD-I, and BD-II, along with clinical and genetic associations.

Persistence of amygdala hyperactivity to subliminal negative emotion processing in the long-term course of depression.

Biased emotion processing has been suggested to underlie the etiology and maintenance of depression. Neuroimaging studies have shown mood-congruent alterations in amygdala activity in patients with acute depression, even during early, automatic stages of emotion processing. However, due to a lack of prospective studies over periods longer than 8 weeks, it is unclear whether these neurofunctional abnormalities represent a persistent correlate of depression even in remission.

A Systematic Evaluation of Machine Learning-Based Biomarkers for Major Depressive Disorder.

Importance: Biological psychiatry aims to understand mental disorders in terms of altered neurobiological pathways. However, for one of the most prevalent and disabling mental disorders, major depressive disorder (MDD), no informative biomarkers have been identified.

Objective: To evaluate whether machine learning (ML) can identify a multivariate biomarker for MDD.

Interrelated effects of age and parenthood on whole-brain controllability: protective effects of parenthood in mothers.

Background: Controllability is a measure of the brain's ability to orchestrate neural activity which can be quantified in terms of properties of the brain's network connectivity. Evidence from the literature suggests that aging can exert a general effect on whole-brain controllability. Mounting evidence, on the other hand, suggests that parenthood and motherhood in particular lead to long-lasting changes in brain architecture that effectively slow down brain aging.

Shared and distinct structural brain networks related to childhood maltreatment and social support: connectome-based predictive modeling.

Childhood maltreatment (CM) has been associated with changes in structural brain connectivity even in the absence of mental illness. Social support, an important protective factor in the presence of childhood maltreatment, has been positively linked to white matter integrity. However, the shared effects of current social support and CM and their association with structural connectivity remain to be investigated.

Association of hospitalization with structural brain alterations in patients with affective disorders over nine years.

Repeated hospitalizations are a characteristic of severe disease courses in patients with affective disorders (PAD). To elucidate how a hospitalization during a nine-year follow-up in PAD affects brain structure, a longitudinal case-control study (mean [SD] follow-up period 8.98 [2.

Negative Stressful Life Events and Social Support Are Associated With White Matter Integrity in Depressed Patients and Healthy Control Participants: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study.

Background: Negative stressful life events and deprivation of social support play critical roles in the development and maintenance of major depressive disorder (MDD). The present study aimed to investigate in a large sample of patients with MDD and healthy control participants (HCs) whether these effects are also reflected in white matter (WM) integrity.

Methods: In this diffusion tensor imaging study, 793 patients with MDD and 793 age- and sex-matched HCs were drawn from the Marburg-Münster Affective Disorders Cohort Study (MACS) and completed the Life Events Questionnaire (LEQ) and Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ).

Higher body weight-dependent neural activation during reward processing.

Obesity is associated with alterations in brain structure and function, particularly in areas related to reward processing. Although brain structural investigations have demonstrated a continuous association between higher body weight and reduced gray matter in well-powered samples, functional neuroimaging studies have typically only contrasted individuals from the normal weight and obese body mass index (BMI) ranges with modest sample sizes. It remains unclear, whether the commonly found hyperresponsiveness of the reward circuit can (a) be replicated in well-powered studies and (b) be found as a function of higher body weight even below the threshold of clinical obesity.

Towards a network control theory of electroconvulsive therapy response.

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is arguably the most effective intervention for treatment-resistant depression. While large interindividual variability exists, a theory capable of explaining individual response to ECT remains elusive. To address this, we posit a quantitative, mechanistic framework of ECT response based on Network Control Theory (NCT).

Treatment with the second-generation antipsychotic quetiapine is associated with increased subgenual ACC activation during reward processing in major depressive disorder.

Background: The second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) quetiapine is an essential option for antidepressant augmentation therapy in major depressive disorder (MDD), yet neurobiological mechanisms behind its antidepressant properties remain unclear. As SGAs interfere with activity in reward-related brain areas, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) - a key brain region in antidepressant interventions, this study examined whether quetiapine treatment affects ACC activity during reward processing in MDD patients.

Methods: Using the ACC as region of interest, an independent t-test comparing reward-related BOLD response of 51 quetiapine-taking and 51 antipsychotic-free MDD patients was conducted.

Volume of subcortical brain regions in social anxiety disorder: mega-analytic results from 37 samples in the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group.

There is limited convergence in neuroimaging investigations into volumes of subcortical brain regions in social anxiety disorder (SAD). The inconsistent findings may arise from variations in methodological approaches across studies, including sample selection based on age and clinical characteristics. The ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group initiated a global mega-analysis to determine whether differences in subcortical volumes can be detected in adults and adolescents with SAD relative to healthy controls.

Temporal stability and state-dependence of retrospective self-reports of childhood maltreatment in healthy and depressed adults.

Retrospective self-reports of childhood maltreatment (CM) are widely used. However, their validity has been questioned due to potential depressive bias. Yet, investigations of this matter are sparse.

Familial risk for major depression: differential white matter alterations in healthy and depressed participants.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been associated with alterations in brain white matter (WM) microstructure. However, diffusion tensor imaging studies in biological relatives have presented contradicting results on WM alterations and their potential as biomarkers for vulnerability or resilience. To shed more light on associations between WM microstructure and resilience to familial risk, analyses including both healthy and depressed relatives of MDD patients are needed.

Brain structural correlates of recurrence following the first episode in patients with major depressive disorder.

Former prospective studies showed that the occurrence of relapse in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is associated with volume loss in the insula, hippocampus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). However, these studies were confounded by the patient's lifetime disease history, as the number of previous episodes predict future recurrence. In order to analyze neural correlates of recurrence irrespective of prior disease course, this study prospectively examined changes in brain structure in patients with first-episode depression (FED) over 2 years.

Understanding the neurobiological basis of anhedonia in major depressive disorder - evidence for reduced neural activation during reward and loss processing.

Background: Anhedonia is a key symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD). Anhedonia is associated with aberrant reward processing, but whether it might interfere similarly with the neural processing of aversive stimuli, such as monetary loss, remains unknown. We aimed to investigate potential associations between anhedonia and neural response during reward and loss processing in patients with MDD.