Ventral striatum connectivity may predict depression in adolescence

The connectivity strength of the ventral striatum (VS) within the reward network demonstrates links to depressive disorders and anhedonia from mid to late adolescence, which indicates the role played by this circuitry in depression changes with age, reveals a study.

The authors used intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) data from 303 adolescents (48 percent female) to examine the associations of VS connectivity at baseline (age 14 years) with depressive disorders at baseline and at 2-year (n=250) and 4-year (n=219) follow-ups. They used 11 regions of interest—key nodes of the reward system—to explore the reward network and measure the connectivity strength of the VS within this network (VS connectivity_rw).

In the main analyses, associations of VS connectivity_rw with depressive disorders, anhedonia, and low mood were assessed using logistic regression. In addition, the authors conducted autoregressive models accounting for carryover effects over time to assess these brain-behaviour associations.

Higher right VS connectivity_rw correlated with a higher likelihood of depressive disorders at baseline (odds ratio [OR], 2.65, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.40‒5.05). This association was confirmed in the autoregressive model, which adjusted for carryover effects of the depressive disorders across the three time points. At follow-up assessments, VS connectivity_rw did not predict depressive disorders.

The structural equation model showed longitudinal associations between VS connectivity_rw and anhedonia. Specifically, left VS connectivity_rw correlated with anhedonia at 2 years (OR, 2.20, 95 percent CI, 1.54‒3.14) and right VS connectivity_rw with anhedonia at 4 years (OR, 1.87, 95 percent CI, 1.09‒3.21). VS connectivity_rw was not predictive of low mood at any time point in this model.

“This study replicates, in an independent sample, the association between the VS and depression previously reported in younger adolescents,” the authors said. “The findings suggest a role of VS connectivity_rw in anhedonia but not in low mood.”