PMID- 35152053
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20220519
LR  - 20220617
IS  - 2213-1582 (Electronic)
IS  - 2213-1582 (Linking)
VI  - 34
DP  - 2022
TI  - Link between structural connectivity of the medial forebrain bundle, functional 
      connectivity of the ventral tegmental area, and anhedonia in unipolar depression.
PG  - 102961
LID - S2213-1582(22)00026-2 [pii]
LID - 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.102961 [doi]
LID - 102961
AB  - The ventral tegmental area (VTA), nucleus accumbens (NAcc), and prefrontal cortex 
      (PFC) are essential for experiencing pleasure and initiating motivated behaviour. 
      The VTA, NAcc, and PFC are connected through the medial forebrain bundle (MFB). 
      In humans, two branches have been described: an infero-medial branch (imMFB) and 
      a supero-lateral branch (slMFB). This study aimed to explore the associations 
      between structural connectivity of the MFB, functional connectivity (FC) of the 
      VTA, anhedonia, and depression severity in patients with depression. Fifty-six 
      patients with unipolar depression and 22 healthy controls matched for age, sex, 
      and handedness were recruited at the University Hospital of Psychiatry and 
      Psychotherapy in Bern, Switzerland. Diffusion-weighted imaging and resting-state 
      functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired. Using manual 
      tractography, the imMFB and slMFB were reconstructed bilaterally for each 
      participant. Seed-based resting-state FC was computed from the VTA to the PFC. 
      Hedonic tone was assessed using the Fawcett-Clark Pleasure Scale. We identified 
      reduced tract volume and reduced number of tracts in the left slMFB. There was an 
      increase in FC between the VTA and right medial PFC in patients with depression. 
      Depression severity was associated with reduced tract volume and fewer tracts in 
      the left slMFB. Reduced hedonic tone was associated with reduced tract volume. 
      Conversely, reduced hedonic tone was associated with increased FC between the VTA 
      and the PFC. In conclusion, our results suggest reduced structural connectivity 
      of the slMFB in patients with depression. Increases in FC between the VTA and PFC 
      may be associated with anhedonia or compensatory hyperactivity.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
FAU - Bracht, Tobias
AU  - Bracht T
AD  - Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and 
      Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: 
      tobias.bracht@upd.unibe.ch.
FAU - Mertse, Nicolas
AU  - Mertse N
AD  - Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and 
      Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
FAU - Walther, Sebastian
AU  - Walther S
AD  - Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and 
      Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
FAU - Ludi, Karin
AU  - Ludi K
AD  - Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and 
      Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
FAU - Breit, Sigrid
AU  - Breit S
AD  - Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and 
      Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
FAU - Federspiel, Andrea
AU  - Federspiel A
AD  - Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and 
      Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
FAU - Wiest, Roland
AU  - Wiest R
AD  - Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, University of Bern, 
      Bern, Switzerland.
FAU - Denier, Niklaus
AU  - Denier N
AD  - Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and 
      Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20220208
PL  - Netherlands
TA  - Neuroimage Clin
JT  - NeuroImage. Clinical
JID - 101597070
SB  - IM
MH  - Anhedonia
MH  - *Depressive Disorder/diagnostic imaging/pathology
MH  - Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging
MH  - Humans
MH  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
MH  - *Medial Forebrain Bundle/pathology
MH  - Ventral Tegmental Area/diagnostic imaging
PMC - PMC8844724
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Anhedonia
OT  - Depression
OT  - Diffusion tensor imaging
OT  - Functional MRI
OT  - Medial forebrain bundle
OT  - Reward system
COIS- The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or 
      personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in 
      this paper.
EDAT- 2022/02/14 06:00
MHDA- 2022/05/20 06:00
PMCR- 2022/02/08
CRDT- 2022/02/13 20:32
PHST- 2021/10/19 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2022/01/10 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2022/02/06 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2022/02/14 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2022/05/20 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2022/02/13 20:32 [entrez]
PHST- 2022/02/08 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - S2213-1582(22)00026-2 [pii]
AID - 102961 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.102961 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Neuroimage Clin. 2022;34:102961. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.102961. Epub 2022 Feb 
      8.