Childhood maltreatment's influence on the dynamic course of depression: symptom trajectories during inpatient treatment and after discharge.

Background: Many studies have highlighted the detrimental effect of childhood maltreatment (CM) on depression severity and the course of illness in major depressive disorder (MDD). Yet our understanding of how CM influences the dynamic symptom change throughout a patient's trajectory remains limited. Hence, we investigated the impact of CM on depression severity in MDD with a focus on various treatment phases during inpatient treatment and after discharge (1 or 2 years later) and validated findings in a real-world setting.

Longitudinal associations between white matter integrity, early life adversities, and treatment response following cognitive-behavioral therapy in depression.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a primary treatment for depression. Although previous research has underscored the significant roles of white matter (WM) alterations and maladaptive parenting in depression risk, their associations with CBT response remain largely unknown. This longitudinal study investigated the interplay of WM integrity changes over time, treatment response, and parenting style in patients with depression.

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.

Polyconnectomic Scoring of Functional Connectivity Patterns Across Eight Neuropsychiatric and Three Neurodegenerative Disorders.

Background: Neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders involve diverse changes in brain functional connectivity. As an alternative to approaches that search for specific mosaic patterns of affected connections and networks, we used polyconnectomic scoring to quantify disorder-related whole-brain connectivity signatures into interpretable, personalized scores.

Methods: The polyconnectomic score (PCS) measures the extent to which an individual's functional connectivity mirrors the whole-brain circuitry characteristics of a trait.

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.

Verbal Learning and Memory Deficits across Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Insights from an ENIGMA Mega Analysis.

Deficits in memory performance have been linked to a wide range of neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions. While many studies have assessed the memory impacts of individual conditions, this study considers a broader perspective by evaluating how memory recall is differentially associated with nine common neuropsychiatric conditions using data drawn from 55 international studies, aggregating 15,883 unique participants aged 15-90. The effects of dementia, mild cognitive impairment, Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury, stroke, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder on immediate, short-, and long-delay verbal learning and memory (VLM) scores were estimated relative to matched healthy individuals.

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.

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.

Exploring the complex interrelation between depressive symptoms, risk, and protective factors: A comprehensive network approach.

Background: Depressive symptoms seem to be interrelated in a complex and self-reinforcing way. To gain a better understanding of this complexity, the inclusion of theoretically relevant constructs (such as risk and protective factors) offers a comprehensive view into the complex mechanisms underlying depression.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from individuals diagnosed with a major depressive disorder (N = 986) and healthy controls (N = 1049) were analyzed.

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.

The significance of structural rich club hubs for the processing of hierarchical stimuli.

The brain's structural network follows a hierarchy that is described as rich club (RC) organization, with RC hubs forming the well-interconnected top of this hierarchy. In this study, we tested whether RC hubs are involved in the processing of hierarchically higher structures in stimulus sequences. Moreover, we explored the role of previously suggested cortical gradients along anterior-posterior and medial-lateral axes throughout the frontal cortex.

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.

Narcissistic dimensions and depressive symptoms in patients across mental disorders in cognitive behavioural therapy and in psychoanalytic interactional therapy in Germany: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Narcissistic personality traits have been theorised to negatively affect depressive symptoms, therapeutic alliance, and treatment outcome, even in the absence of narcissistic personality disorder. We aimed to examine how the dimensional narcissistic facets of admiration and rivalry affect depressive symptoms across treatment modalities in two transdiagnostic samples.

Methods: We did a naturalistic, observational prospective cohort study in two independent adult samples in Germany: one sample pooled from an inpatient psychiatric clinic and an outpatient treatment service offering cognitive behavioural treatment (CBT), and one sample from an inpatient clinic providing psychoanalytic interactional therapy (PIT).

Quantifying brain connectivity signatures by means of polyconnectomic scoring.

A broad range of neuropsychiatric disorders are associated with alterations in macroscale brain circuitry and connectivity. Identifying consistent brain patterns underlying these disorders by means of structural and functional MRI has proven challenging, partly due to the vast number of tests required to examine the entire brain, which can lead to an increase in missed findings. In this study, we propose polyconnectomic score (PCS) as a metric designed to quantify the presence of disease-related brain connectivity signatures in connectomes.

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.

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).

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.