Functional Magnetic Resonance Research Of Psychotherapy In Major Depressive Disorder

Background Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a common psychiatric disorder characterized by deficits in affective procession and self perception. According to previous research both functional and structural abnormalities have been revealed in MDD, however reports on psychotherapy induced effects were rare. We conducted a longitudinal study to explore the underlying brain mechanism of psychotherapy in MDD.Methods A total of 23 MDD patients and 20 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Resting-state magnetic resonance and anatomical date were acquired at the baseline, and after guided-imagery psychotherapy. Cross-sectional and longitudinal changes of amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and GMV were assessed.Results MDD patients showed decreased GMV in extensive prefrontal regions and increased fALFF in bilateral orbitofrontal cortex. After therapy we observed decreased fALFF in middle cingulate and subgenual cingulate (sgACC). Functional connectivity between sgACC and supplementary motor area, middle cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex significantly increased.Conclusion We speculated that psychotherapy could modulate the connectivity of cingulate cortex to remodel the emotion-related functional loop. The activity alteration in sgACC would be identified as prognostic marker. Our finding demonstrated the "top-down" regulatory mechanism of psychotherapy.