Brain electrical tomography in depression: the importance of symptom severity, anxiety, and melancholic features

BACKGROUND The frontal lobe has been crucially involved in the neurobiology of major depression, but inconsistencies among studies exist, in part due to a failure of considering modulatory variables such as symptom severity, comorbidity with anxiety, and distinct subtypes, as codeterminants for patterns of brain activation in depression. METHODS Resting electroencephalogram was recorded in 38 unmedicated subjects with major depressive disorder and 18 normal comparison subjects, and analyzed with a tomographic source localization method that computes the cortical three-dimensional distribution of current density for standard electroencephalogram frequency bands. Symptom severity and anxiety were measured via self-report and melancholic features via clinical interview. RESULTS Depressed subjects showed more excitatory (beta3, 21.5-30.0 Hz) activity in the right superior and inferior frontal lobe (Brodmann's area 9/10/11) than comparison subjects. In melancholic subjects, this effect was particularly pronounced for severe depression, and right frontal activity correlated positively with anxiety. Depressed subjects showed posterior cingulate and precuneus hypoactivity. CONCLUSIONS While confirming prior results implicating right frontal and posterior cingulate regions, this study highlights the importance of depression severity, anxiety, and melancholic features in patterns of brain activity accompanying depression.

[1]  M E Phelps,et al.  Regional brain metabolic changes in patients with major depression treated with either paroxetine or interpersonal therapy: preliminary findings. , 2001, Archives of general psychiatry.

[2]  M. Bonnet,et al.  Impact of activity and arousal upon spectral EEG parameters , 2001, Physiology & Behavior.

[3]  M. Raichle,et al.  A functional anatomical study of unipolar depression , 1992, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[4]  M. Raichle,et al.  Subgenual prefrontal cortex abnormalities in mood disorders , 1997, Nature.

[5]  A J Rush,et al.  Cerebral blood flow changes during sodium-lactate-induced panic attacks. , 1988, The American journal of psychiatry.

[6]  P A Turski,et al.  Metabolic rate in the right amygdala predicts negative affect in depressed patients , 1998, Neuroreport.

[7]  R. Manservigi,et al.  Gene transfer into neurones for the molecular analysis of behaviour: focus on herpes simplex vectors , 2000, Trends in Neurosciences.

[8]  R. Davidson,et al.  The functional neuroanatomy of emotion and affective style , 1999, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[9]  M. Hamilton.  A RATING SCALE FOR DEPRESSION , 1960, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.

[10]  André Luxen,et al.  Frontal and parietal metabolic disturbances in unipolar depression , 1994, Biological Psychiatry.

[11]  加納 邦夫.  The topographical features of EEGs in patients with affective disorders , 1993 .

[12]  W. Heller,et al.  The puzzle of regional brain activity in emotion: A framework for understanding cognition in depression , 1998 .

[13]  R. Llinás.  The intrinsic electrophysiological properties of mammalian neurons: insights into central nervous system function. , 1988, Science.

[14]  A. Beck,et al.  An inventory for measuring depression. , 1961, Archives of general psychiatry.

[15]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  The anatomy of melancholia – focal abnormalities of cerebral blood flow in major depression , 1992, Psychological Medicine.

[16]  H. Critchley,et al.  Explicit and implicit neural mechanisms for processing of social information from facial expressions: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study , 2000, Human brain mapping.

[17]  R. Maddock.  The retrosplenial cortex and emotion: new insights from functional neuroimaging of the human brain , 1999, Trends in Neurosciences.

[18]  G. A. Miller,et al.  Contrasting patterns of brain activity in anxious apprehension and anxious arousal. , 1999, Psychophysiology.

[19]  P. Jerabek,et al.  Regional metabolic effects of fluoxetine in major depression: serial changes and relationship to clinical response , 2000, Biological Psychiatry.

[20]  E. Fetz,et al.  Coherent 25- to 35-Hz oscillations in the sensorimotor cortex of awake behaving monkeys. , 1992, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[21]  R. Davidson,et al.  Regional brain electrical asymmetries discriminate between previously depressed and healthy control subjects. , 1990, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[22]  N. Kalin,et al.  Emotion, plasticity, context, and regulation: perspectives from affective neuroscience. , 2000, Psychological bulletin.

[23]  David R. Brillinger,et al.  Time Series , 2018, Randomization, Bootstrap and Monte Carlo Methods in Biology.

[24]  W M Herrmann,et al.  Reflections on the topics: EEG frequency bands and regulation of vigilance. , 1979, Pharmakopsychiatrie, Neuro-Psychopharmakologie.

[25]  Axel Bossuyt,et al.  SPECT imaging of serotonin2 receptors in depression , 1992, Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

[26]  F. Reischies,et al.  Clinical correlates of cerebral blood flow in depression , 1989, Psychiatry Research.

[27]  Ian H. Gotlib,et al.  Frontal EEG Alpha Asymmetry, Depression, and Cognitive Functioning , 1998 .

[28]  W. Heller,et al.  The puzzle of regional brain activity in depression and anxiety: The importance of subtypes and comorbidity. , 1998 .

[29]  T. Paus,et al.  Synchronization of neuronal activity in the human primary motor cortex by transcranial magnetic stimulation: an EEG study. , 2001, Journal of neurophysiology.

[30]  Trevor W. Robbins,et al.  Dissociable effects of anterior and posterior cingulate cortex lesions on the acquisition of a conditional visual discrimination: Facilitation of early learning vs. impairment of late learning , 1996, Behavioural Brain Research.

[31]  T Landis,et al.  Non-invasive epileptic focus localization using EEG-triggered functional MRI and electromagnetic tomography. , 1998, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[32]  J. Mazziotta,et al.  Reduction of prefrontal cortex glucose metabolism common to three types of depression. , 1989, Archives of general psychiatry.

[33]  I. Galynker,et al.  Hypofrontality and negative symptoms in major depressive disorder. , 1998, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[34]  A L Brody,et al.  Prefrontal-subcortical and limbic circuit mediation of major depressive disorder. , 2001, Seminars in clinical neuropsychiatry.

[35]  K. K. Tan,et al.  The spatial location of EEG electrodes: locating the best-fitting sphere relative to cortical anatomy. , 1993, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[36]  R. Kerwin,et al.  Regional Cerebral Blood Flow in Obsessive-Compulsive Disordered Patients at Rest , 1995, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[37]  J. Borod.  The Neuropsychology of emotion , 2000 .

[38]  Lawrence H Staib,et al.  Neural correlates of exposure to traumatic pictures and sound in Vietnam combat veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder: a positron emission tomography study , 1999, Biological Psychiatry.

[39]  M. Gabriel,et al.  Neurobiology of Cingulate Cortex and Limbic Thalamus: A Comprehensive Handbook , 1993 .

[40]  W. Drevets.  Neuroimaging studies of mood disorders , 2000, Biological Psychiatry.

[41]  J D Watson,et al.  Nonparametric Analysis of Statistic Images from Functional Mapping Experiments , 1996, Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.

[42]  S. Pappatà,et al.  Left prefrontal glucose hypometabolism in the depressed state: a confirmation. , 1990, The American journal of psychiatry.

[43]  J. Holden,et al.  Relations between PET-derived measures of thalamic glucose metabolism and EEG alpha power. , 1998, Psychophysiology.

[44]  Nathaniel M. Alpert,et al.  The functional neuroanatomy of anxiety: a study of three disorders using positron emission tomography and symptom provocation , 1997, Biological Psychiatry.

[45]  M. Buonocore,et al.  Activation of left posterior cingulate gyrus by the auditory presentation ofthreat-related words: an fMRI study , 1997, Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

[46]  S. Alborzian,et al.  Brain metabolic changes in major depressive disorder from pre- to post-treatment with paroxetine , 1999, Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

[47]  J. P. Kline,et al.  Differential Resting Quantitative Electroencephalographic Alpha Patterns in Women with Environmental Chemical Intolerance, Depressives, and Normals , 1998, Biological Psychiatry.

[48]  J C Mazziotta,et al.  Automated labeling of the human brain: A preliminary report on the development and evaluation of a forward‐transform method , 1997, Human brain mapping.

[49]  L. J. Chapman,et al.  The measurement of handedness , 1987, Brain and Cognition.

[50]  L. Parsons,et al.  Reciprocal limbic-cortical function and negative mood: converging PET findings in depression and normal sadness. , 1999, The American journal of psychiatry.

[51]  R. Fisher.  014: On the "Probable Error" of a Coefficient of Correlation Deduced from a Small Sample. , 1921 .

[52]  John J. B. Allen,et al.  Regional electroencephalographic asymmetries in bipolar seasonal affective disorder before and after exposure to bright light , 1993, Biological Psychiatry.

[53]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  Regional cerebral blood flow in depression measured by positron emission tomography: the relationship with clinical dimensions , 1993, Psychological Medicine.

[54]  D. Lehmann,et al.  Low resolution electromagnetic tomography: a new method for localizing electrical activity in the brain. , 1994, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[55]  O. Devinsky,et al.  The Contributions of Cingulate Cortex to Human Behavior , 1993 .

[56]  Jeffrey B. Henriques,et al.  While a phobic waits: regional brain electrical and autonomic activity in social phobics during anticipation of public speaking , 2000, Biological Psychiatry.

[57]  Robert L. Royall,et al.  Brain blood flow changes in depressed patients treated with interpersonal psychotherapy or venlafaxine hydrochloride: preliminary findings. , 2001, Archives of general psychiatry.

[58]  P. Pauli,et al.  Pain sensitivity, cerebral laterality, and negative affect , 1999, Pain.

[59]  F. Quitkin,et al.  Regional brain asymmetries in major depression with or without an anxiety disorder: A quantitative electroencephalographic study , 1997, Biological Psychiatry.

[60]  R. Davidson,et al.  Anterior cingulate activity as a predictor of degree of treatment response in major depression: evidence from brain electrical tomography analysis. , 2001, The American journal of psychiatry.

[61]  R. Davidson,et al.  Frontal and parietal electroencephalogram asymmetry in depressed and nondepressed subjects. , 1983, Biological psychiatry.

[62]  M. Torrens.  Co-Planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain—3-Dimensional Proportional System: An Approach to Cerebral Imaging, J. Talairach, P. Tournoux. Georg Thieme Verlag, New York (1988), 122 pp., 130 figs. DM 268 , 1990 .

[63]  G Wiedemann,et al.  Frontal brain asymmetry as a biological substrate of emotions in patients with panic disorders. , 1999, Archives of general psychiatry.

[64]  August B. Hollingshead,et al.  Two Factor Index of Social Position , 1957 .

[65]  B. Brinkmann,et al.  Localization of the Epileptic Focus by Low-Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography in Patients with a Lesion Demonstrated by MRI , 2004, Brain Topography.

[66]  M. Fredrikson,et al.  Functional neuroanatomy of robbery re‐experience: affective memories studied with PET , 1996, Neuroreport.

[67]  Dc Washington.  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Ed. , 1994 .

[68]  C. Frith,et al.  Prefrontal dysfunction in depressed patients performing a complex planning task: a study using positron emission tomography , 1997, Psychological Medicine.

[69]  J. Allen,et al.  Resting frontal electroencephalographic asymmetry in depression: inconsistencies suggest the need to identify mediating factors. , 1998, Psychophysiology.

[70]  J. Bouyer,et al.  Anatomical localization of cortical beta rhythms in cat , 1987, Neuroscience.

[71]  H. Critchley,et al.  Neural Activity Relating to Generation and Representation of Galvanic Skin Conductance Responses: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study , 2000, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[72]  S M Kosslyn,et al.  Visual imagery and perception in posttraumatic stress disorder. A positron emission tomographic investigation. , 1997, Archives of general psychiatry.

[73]  D. Wong,et al.  Cerebral Glucose Utilization Is Reduced in Second Test Session , 1997, Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.

[74]  Gregory A. Miller,et al.  Distinguishing Dimensions of Anxiety and Depression , 2001, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[75]  Jeffrey B. Henriques,et al.  Left frontal hypoactivation in depression. , 1991, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[76]  Mark S. George,et al.  Regional cerebral metabolism associated with anxiety symptoms in affective disorder patients , 2000, Biological Psychiatry.

[77]  T. Koenig,et al.  Low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) functional imaging in acute, neuroleptic-naive, first-episode, productive schizophrenia , 1999, Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

[78]  中村 聡.  Analysis of music-brain interaction with simultaneous measurement of regional cerebral blood flow and electroencephalogram beta rhythm in human subjects , 2000 .

[79]  C. Spielberger,et al.  Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory , 1970 .

[80]  Kristen A Lindgren,et al.  Thalamic metabolic rate predicts EEG alpha power in healthy control subjects but not in depressed patients , 1999, Biological Psychiatry.

[81]  M. Gabriel,et al.  Neurobiology of Cingulate Cortex and Limbic Thalamus , 1993 .

[82]  T. Inubushi,et al.  Lateralized abnormality of high energy phosphate metabolism in the frontal lobes of patients with bipolar disorder detected by phase-encoded 31P-MRS , 1995, Psychological Medicine.

[83]  D. Brillinger.  Time series - data analysis and theory , 1981, Classics in applied mathematics.