Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37495889›Full record

SynthesisMolecular psychiatry2023

Brain-wide changes in excitation-inhibition balance of major depressive disorder: a systematic review of topographic patterns of GABA- and glutamatergic alterations.

Yu-Ting Hu, Zhong-Lin Tan, Dusan Hirjak, Georg Northoff

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Molecular psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
68citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
15.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

68 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 89 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Glutamatergic Modulation of Brain Function in Psychosis: A Systematic Review of Neuroimaging Studies.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2025
    Pooled it
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  10. Detecting neuroplastic effects induced by ketamine in healthy human subjects: A multimodal approach.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2026
    Article
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8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Yu-Ting HuAffiliated Mental Health Center and Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China. yt.hu@zju.edu.cn.ORCID 0000-0002-8707-3995
Zhong-Lin TanAffiliated Mental Health Center and Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
Dusan HirjakCentral Institute of Mental Health, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-1226-9800
Georg NorthoffAffiliated Mental Health Center and Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China. georg.northoff@theroyal.ca.ORCID 0000-0002-5236-0951
University of Ottawa · CAHangzhou Seventh Peoples Hospital · CNHeidelberg University · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The excitation-inhibition (E/I) imbalance is an important molecular pathological feature of major depressive disorder (MDD) as altered GABA and glutamate levels have been found in multiple brain regions in patients. Healthy subjects show topographic organization of the E/I balance (EIB) across various brain regions. We here raise the question of whether such EIB topography is altered in MDD. Therefore, we systematically review the gene and protein expressions of inhibitory GABAergic and excitatory glutamatergic signaling-related molecules in postmortem MDD brain studies as proxies for EIB topography. Searches were conducted through PubMed and 45 research articles were finally included. We found: i) brain-wide GABA- and glutamatergic alterations; ii) attenuated GABAergic with enhanced glutamatergic signaling in the cortical-subcortical limbic system; iii) that GABAergic signaling is decreased in regions comprising the default mode network (DMN) while it is increased in lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC). These together demonstrate abnormal GABA- and glutamatergic signaling-based EIB topographies in MDD. This enhances our pathophysiological understanding of MDD and carries important therapeutic implications for stimulation treatment.

Indexed as

Major Depressive DisorderBraingamma-Aminobutyric AcidGlutamic AcidHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingPrefrontal Cortexgamma-Aminobutyric AcidGlutamic Acid

Identifiers

PMID37495889
OpenAlexW4385289896

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.