Rostral anterior cingulate connectivity in older adults with subthreshold depressive symptoms: A preliminary study.

• Authors: Andrew M Gradone, Georgia State University; Gabriell Champion, Georgia State University; Keith McGregor, Emory University; Joe Nocera, Emory University; Sarah J Barber, Georgia State University; Lisa C Krishnamurthy, VA Rehabilitation Research & Development Center for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation, Atlanta VA Health Care System, Decatur, GA, United States.; Vonetta M Dotson, Georgia State University
• Journal Title: Aging Brain
• Volume: Volume 3
• Publisher: Elseveir | 2023, Pages 100059-100059
• Type of Work: Article | Post-print: After Peer Review
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbas.2022.100059
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Rehabilitation and Therapy; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery
• Keywords: Aging; Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC); Depression; Functional Connectivity; Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI); Subsyndromal depression

Abstract

Subthreshold depressive symptoms are highly prevalent among older adults and are associated with numerous health risks including cognitive decline and decreased physical health. One brain region central to neuroanatomical models of depressive disorders is the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The rostral portion of the ACC-comprised of the pregenual ACC and subgenual ACC-is implicated in emotion control and reward processing. The goal of the current study was to examine how functional connectivity in subregions of the rostral ACC relate to depressive symptoms, measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition, in an ethnically diverse sample of 28 community-dwelling older adults. Based on meta-analyses of previous studies in primarily young adults with clinical depression, we hypothesized that greater depressive symptoms would be associated with primarily increased resting-state functional connectivity from both the subgenual ACC and pregenual ACC to default mode network regions and the dorsolateral PFC. We instead found that higher depressive symptoms were associated with lower functional connectivity of the ACC to the dorsolateral PFC and regions within the default mode network, including from the subgenual ACC to the dorsolateral PFC and anterior cingulate and from the pregenual ACC to the middle cingulate gyrus. This preliminary study highlights brain alterations at subthreshold levels of depressive symptoms in older adults, which could serve as targets for interventions.