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Deficits of Neurotransmitter Systems and Altered Brain Connectivity in Major Depression: A Translational Neuroscience Perspective

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Translational Research Methods for Major Depressive Disorder

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 179))

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Abstract

Recent studies that examined brain characteristics for major depressive disorder (MDD) have reported deficient neurotransmitter system, altered brain morphology and patterns of white matter-based brain inter-regional connections, and differential brain inter-regional coherence of oscillatory patterns during resting and task performance status compared to healthy controls. For better understanding of the MDD pathophysiology that underlies clinical symptoms, the current review provides practical approaches of multimodal brain imaging encompassing the regional deficiency of neurotransmitter receptors or synaptic density to altered patterns of brain inter-regional connection or communication for MDD. First, to elucidate the deficits of neurotransmitter system in MDD, the current review illustrates how to acquire the brain molecular positron emission tomography (PET) images and estimate the synaptic density in addition to the binding potential (or receptor availabilities) of serotonergic (5-HT transporter and 5-HT1A autoreceptor), glutamatergic (metabotropic glutamate receptor 5), and dopaminergic (D2 receptor) system across the whole brain. Second, the current review demonstrates how to explore the possible associations between the regional deficits of neurotransmitter binding potential and altered resting-state functional connectivity [voxel-to-whole brain (intrinsic functional connectivity) or region-to-region (seed-based functional connectivity)], structural connectivity [brain white matter-based region-to-region structural connectivity, estimated using the probabilistic fiber tracking system], and directed functional connectivity [region-to-region] during task performance in MDD. Third, opened resources of software and pipelines that could be applied in running these analytical procedures are also provided.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2017R1D1A1B03028464).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea

    Je-Yeon Yun

  2. Yeongeon Student Support Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Je-Yeon Yun

  3. Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea

    Yong-Ku Kim

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  1. Je-Yeon Yun
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  2. Yong-Ku Kim
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Correspondence to Je-Yeon Yun .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Korea University Ansan Hospital, Ansan, Korea (Republic of)

    Yong-Ku Kim

  2. Deptartment of Speech Therapy, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Meysam Amidfar

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Yun, JY., Kim, YK. (2022). Deficits of Neurotransmitter Systems and Altered Brain Connectivity in Major Depression: A Translational Neuroscience Perspective. In: Kim, YK., Amidfar, M. (eds) Translational Research Methods for Major Depressive Disorder. Neuromethods, vol 179. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2083-0_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2083-0_14

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-2082-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-2083-0

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