Transdiagnostic white matter controllability deficits across patients with affective and anxiety spectrum disorders

Biqiu Tang; Hengyi Cao; Shikuang Deng; Wenjing Zhang; Youjin Zhao; Qiyong Gong; Shi Gu; Su Lui

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.10.067

Transdiagnostic white matter controllability deficits across patients with affective and anxiety spectrum disorders

J Affect Disord. 2024 Oct 21:370:268-276. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.10.067. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Biqiu Tang¹, Hengyi Cao², Shikuang Deng³, Wenjing Zhang¹, Youjin Zhao¹, Qiyong Gong⁴, Shi Gu⁵, Su Lui⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
² Institute of Behavior Science, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Manhasset, NY, USA; Division of Psychiatry Research, Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, NY, USA.
³ School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
⁴ Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China. Electronic address: qiyonggong@hmrrc.org.cn.
⁵ School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China. Electronic address: gus@uestc.edu.cn.
⁶ Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China. Electronic address: lusuwcums@hotmail.com.

PMID: 39442704
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.10.067

Abstract

Background: Affective and anxiety disorders including major depression disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and social anxiety disorder (SAD) are characterized by network dysconnectivity. Network controllability quantifies the capability of specific brain regions to impact functional dynamics based on the underlying structural connectome. This study aimed to investigate transdiagnostic and illness-specific network controllability alterations across these three disorders.

Materials and methods: The study enrolled 233 currently untreated and non-comorbid subjects, including 68 MDD patients, 51 PTSD patients, 46 SAD patients, and 68 healthy controls (HCs). White matter network controllability was compared among the four groups, and its associations with symptom severity and duration of untreated illness were evaluated.

Results: Compared with HCs, patients with PTSD, MDD and SAD exhibited reduced average controllability in the somatomotor, subcortical, and default mode network, notably in brain regions such as the superior frontal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, paracentral gyrus, pallidum, posterior cingulate, and putamen. MDD and SAD patients exhibited reduced average controllability in the left lateral occipital gyrus and bilateral accumbens. SAD patients showed reduced average controllability in the dorsal attention network. These controllability changes did not correlate with illness duration or symptom severity.

Limitations: The cross-sectional design limits causal inference, and adjusting for age and sex differences may not completely eliminate their influence on the results.

Conclusion: The present study revealed shared and specific alterations of network controllability in MDD, PTSD, and SAD, suggesting reduced ability of specific brain regions/networks in driving the brain system into different functional states across these disorders.

Keywords: Illness-specific; Network controllability; Psychiatric disorders; Transdiagnostic; White matter.