Abnormal resting state effective connectivity within the default mode network in major depressive disorder: A spectral dynamic causal modeling study

INTRODUCTION: Understanding the neural basis underlying major depressive disorder (MDD) is essential for the diagnosis and treatment of this mental disorder. Aberrant activation and functional connectivity of the default mode network (DMN) have been consistently found in patients with MDD. It is not known whether effective connectivity within the DMN is altered in MDD. OBJECTS: The primary object of this study is to investigate the effective connectivity within the DMN during resting state in MDD patients before and after eight weeks of antidepressant treatment. METHODS: We defined four regions of the DMN (medial frontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, left parietal cortex, and right parietal cortex) for each participant using a group independent component analysis. The coupling parameters reflecting the causal interactions among the DMN regions were estimated using spectral dynamic causal modeling (DCM). RESULTS: Twenty‐seven MDD patients and 27 healthy controls were included in the statistical analysis. Our results showed declined influences from the left parietal cortex to other DMN regions in the pre‐treatment patients as compared with healthy controls. After eight weeks of treatment, the influence from the right parietal cortex to the posterior cingulate cortex significantly decreased. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the reduced excitatory causal influence of the left parietal cortex is the key alteration of the DMN in patients with MDD, and the disrupted causal influences that parietal cortex exerts on the posterior cingulate cortex is responsive to antidepressant treatment.