Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40514387›Full record

ArticleTranslational psychiatry2025

Multilevel brain functional connectivity and task-based representations explaining heterogeneity in major depressive disorder.

Qi Liu, Xinqi Zhou, Chunmei Lan, Xiaolei Xu, Yuanshu Chen, Taolin Chen, Jinhui Wang, Bo Zhou, Dezhong Yao, Keith M Kendrick and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Translational psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Neural Circuit Taxonomy and Precision Psychiatry in Major Depression.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026
    Review
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

12 authors.

Qi Liu *The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0002-2468-4972
Xinqi Zhou *Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5032-9141
Chunmei LanSchool of Sport Training, Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6466-1217
Xiaolei XuSchool of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China.
Yuanshu ChenInstitute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China.
Taolin ChenDepartment of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Jinhui WangInstitute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
Bo ZhouThe Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
Dezhong YaoThe Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8042-879X
Keith M KendrickThe Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0371-5904
Benjamin BeckerThe Department of Psychology, The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. ben_becker@gmx.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9014-9671
Weihua ZhaoThe Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China. zarazhao@uestc.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1780-4606

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a devastating mental disorder characterized by considerable clinical and biological heterogeneity. While comparable clinical symptoms may represent a common pathological endpoint, it is conceivable that distinct neurophysiological mechanisms underlie their manifestation. In this study, both static and model-based dynamic functional connectivity were employed as predictive variables in the normative model to map multilevel functional developmental trajectories and determined clusters of distinguishable MDD subgroups in a large multi-site resting fMRI dataset of 2428 participants (healthy controls: N = 1128; MDD: N = 1300). An independent cohort of 72 participants (healthy controls: N = 35; MDD: N = 37) with both resting fMRI and task-based fMRI data was utilized to validate the identified MDD subtypes and explore subtype-specific task-based neural representations. Our findings indicated brain-wide, interpatient heterogeneous multilevel brain functional deviations in MDD. We identified two distinct and reproducible MDD subtypes, exhibiting comparable severity of clinical symptoms but opposing patterns of multilevel functional deviations. Specifically, MDD subtype 1 displayed positive deviations in the frontoparietal and default mode networks, coupled with negative deviations in the occipital and sensorimotor networks. Conversely, MDD subtype 2 exhibited a significantly contrasting deviation pattern. Additionally, we found that these two identified MDD subtypes exhibited different neural representations during empathic processing, while the subtypes did not differ during implicit face processing. These findings underscore the neurobiological complexity of MDD and highlights the need for a multifaceted approach to diagnosis and treatment that can be tailored specifically to individual subtypes, facilitating personalized and more effective interventions for individuals with MDD.

Indexed as

BrainConnectomeMajor Depressive DisorderNerve NetAdultCase-Control StudiesDefault Mode NetworkFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID40514387
PMCPMC12166080

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.