ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Computational Psychiatry
This article is part of the Research TopicNeuroimaging Methods for the Pathogenesis of Children and Adolescents with Affective DisordersView all 4 articles
Aberrant functional connectivity and the intrinsic activity of primary visual network and their relationship with adolescent atypical depression symptoms
Provisionally accepted
- 1Zhejiang University School of Medicine Affiliated Mental Health Centre & Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Hangzhou, China
- 2Third Hospital of Quzhou, Quzhou, China
- 3Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
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Background: The pathophysiological mechanisms of adolescent atypical depression (A-D) remain unclear. This study used resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) and independent component analysis (ICA) to compare functional network connectivity (FNC) and intrinsic brain activity between health control, A-D and non-atypical depression (NA-D) adolescents. Methods: Fifteen HC, seventeen A-D and eighteen NA-D adolescents underwent rs-fMRI. Clinical symptoms were assessed using the 30-item Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS-30R). ICA was employed to analyze internetwork FNC and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF). Results: The A-D group exhibited decreased connectivity between the primary visual (IC4) and visuospatial (IC10) networks, but increased connectivity between IC4 and the sensorimotor network (IC11), and between ventral and dorsal default mode networks (IC8, IC17). Higher fALFF values were found in right fusiform face area and left superior occipital gyrus of the A-D group than the NA-D group. Increased appetite correlated positively with IC4-IC10 connectivity (r=0.573, p=0.016), and interpersonal rejection sensitivity was correlated with fALFF in the right fusiform area (r=0.625, p= 0.007). Conclusion: Aberrant functional connectivity of the visual network and altered activity in visual-processing regions are associated with specific A-D symptoms, providing new insights into its neurophysiology.
Keywords: atypical depression, Resting-state fMRI, functional connectivity, Independent Component Analysis, primary visual network, Fusiform face area
Received: 11 Sep 2025; Accepted: 04 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Liu, Liu, Tang, Xie, Ma, Yu, Wu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Sha Wu, 598104490@qq.com
Yi Li, liyizjhz@hotmail.com
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