Structural And Functional Characteristics Of The Striatum In Major Depressive Disorder Based On Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Objective: To investigate the structural and functional characteristics of the striatum in Major Depressive Disorder.Methods: Structural magnetic resonance imaging scans and f MRI scans were performed in 34 Major Depressive Disorder patients and 30 healthy controls.The voxel-based morphological analysis method was used to analyze the structural MRI scan data,and the gray matter volume values of the right and left striatal limbic regions,executive regions,and sensorimotor regions were extracted,and the differences between groups were compared using the t-test.In addition,the f MRI scan data were analyzed using the functional connectivity method,with the left and right striatum as seed points,and the reference time series of the left and right striatum and the remaining voxel time series of the brain were correlated using the voxel-level-based analysis method.Results: It showed no statistically significant differences between two groups in terms of age,gender,marital status,education level,employment status,current residence,smoking history and drinking history.It showed no statistically significant differences in the volumes of the left and right striatal limbic,joint,and sensorimotor subregions between two groups,but there was a negative correlation between the volume of the left striatal joint and the HAMD-17 score.It suggested enhanced functional connectivity between the left striatum and the right middle frontal gyrus and the right angular gyrus,and between the right striatum and the right medial superior frontal gyrus and the right angular gyrus in the group of patients.Conclusion: This study shows that depressed patients have abnormal alterations in striatal functional connectivity.