Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40686488›Full record

SynthesisPsychological medicine2025

Structural brain correlates in major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder: a diffusion tensor imaging meta-analysis.

Yunxiao Guo, Sijun Liu, Sara Poletti, Wei Liu, Yinong Liu, Junrong Zhao, Qian Xiong, Haixia Zheng, Dongtao Wei, Jiayi Li and 3 more

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Psychological medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing 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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
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

13 authors.

Yunxiao GuoKey Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (Ministry of Education).ORCID 0009-0003-1976-5687
Sijun LiuKey Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (Ministry of Education).
Sara PolettiPsychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, Division of Neuroscience, https://ror.org/039zxt351IRCCS Scientific Institute Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.
Wei LiuKey Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (Ministry of Education).
Yinong LiuKey Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (Ministry of Education).
Junrong ZhaoKey Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (Ministry of Education).
Qian XiongKey Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (Ministry of Education).
Haixia Zhenghttps://ror.org/05e6pjy56Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA.
Dongtao WeiKey Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, https://ror.org/01kj4z117Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
Jiayi LiKey Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (Ministry of Education).
Yuyi ZhangKey Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (Ministry of Education).
Jun RuanKey Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (Ministry of Education).
Zhihong RenKey Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (Ministry of Education).ORCID 0000-0002-3753-6242

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The high comorbidity of major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety disorders (ANX), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) complicates the study of their structural neural correlates, particularly in white matter (WM) alterations. Using fractional anisotropy (FA), this meta-analysis aimed to identify both unique and shared WM characteristics for these disorders by comparing them with healthy controls (HC). The aggregated sample size across studies includes 3,661 individuals diagnosed with MDD, ANX, or PTSD and 3,140 HC participants. The whole-brain analysis revealed significant FA reductions in the corpus callosum (CC) across MDD, ANX, and PTSD, suggesting a common neurostructural alteration underlying these disorders. Further pairwise comparisons highlighted disorder-specific differences: MDD patients showed reduced FA in the middle cerebellar peduncles and bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus II relative to ANX patients and decreased FA in the CC extending to the left anterior thalamic projections (ATPs) when compared with PTSD. In contrast, PTSD patients exhibited reduced FA in the right ATPs compared to HC. No significant FA differences were observed between ANX and PTSD or between ANX and HC. These findings provide evidence for both shared and unique WM alterations in MDD, ANX, and PTSD, reflecting the neural underpinnings of the clinical characteristics that distinguish these disorders.

Indexed as

Anxiety DisordersBrainDiffusion Tensor ImagingMajor Depressive DisorderStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticWhite MatterCorpus CallosumHumansanxiety disorderscomorbiditiesdiffusion tensor imagingmajor depressive disordermeta-analysispost-traumatic stress disorder

Identifiers

PMID40686488
PMCPMC12315647

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.