Intrinsic thalamocortical connectivity varies in the age of onset subtypes in major depressive disorder

Figures & data

Figure 1 Statistical maps of thalamocortical connectivity in EO-MDD and AO-MDD patients and HC: (A) six cortical ROIs used as seed regions in the seed-to-voxel analysis of thalamocortical connectivity; (B) the first three rows show group mean clusters from HCs and EO-MDD and AO-MDD patients. The fourth row displays significant clusters showing a main effect of group from ANOVA results; (C) significant clusters emerging from group contrasts (showing only clusters that overlap with group main effects from ANOVA results); (D) overlaid group mean clusters to demonstrate differences in the spatial distribution of thalamocortical connectivity regions in the thalamus across all the three groups.

Note: All statistical maps corrected at a voxel level of P<0.005 and after small volume correction (FWE), P<0.001.
Abbreviations: ANOVA, analysis of variance; AO, adult onset; EO, early onset; FWE, family-wise error; HC, healthy control; MDD, major depressive disorder; ROIs, regions of interest.

Table 1 Demographic and clinical variables

	EO-MDD (N=20)	AO-MDD (N=34)	Healthy controls (N=40)	F-statistics (EO vs AO)	P-values
Age (years)	29.2±7.9	41.1±9.4	31.3±9.7	22.68***	<0.001
Sex (%)	25 M, 75 F	44 M, 56 F	45 M, 55 F	5.04*	0.029
HAM-D total	21.8±3.5	21.6±4.3	–	0.05	0.831
Age of onset	14.4±2.5	31.6±8.1	–	85.17***	<0.001
Number of episodes	4.6±5.8	1.7±1.6	–	7.46**	0.009
Illness duration (months)	59.5±74.2	41.9±55.0	–	0.99	0.324

Note:

* P<0.05;

** P<0.01;

*** P<0.001.

Abbreviations: AO, adult onset; EO, early onset; F, female; M, male; MDD, major depressive disorder; HAM-D, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression.

Table 2 Cluster table showing thalamocortical group differences from group contrasts (only clusters that overlap with those showing the main effects of the group from ANOVA comparing HC, AO-MDD, and EO-MDD patients)

Region (clusters)	R = right; L = left	Cluster size (voxels)	MNI coordinate (local maxima)			z-score
			x	y	z
EO effects
EO > HC
Temporal	R	10	16	−32	−8	3.3
AO effects
AO > HC
Temporal	R	36	10	−34	−2	3.31
HC > AO
Frontal	R	67	10	−22	4	3.32

Abbreviations: ANOVA, analysis of variance; AO, adult onset; EO, early onset; HC, healthy control; MDD, major depressive disorder; MNI, Montreal Neurological Institute.