Systems Neuroscience in Late-Life Depression

Major depression in the elderly is a heterogeneous disorder that presents with a constellation of cognitive and affective symptoms. Neuroimaging has helped elucidate the contributions of dorsal-cognitive and ventral-affective brain regions to the pathophysiology of late-life depression (LLD). Functional connectivity has been used to understand the inner workings of several brain regions or networks in tandem. Three prominent functional networks in LLD have been identified: (1) a cognitive control network (CCN) active during cognitively demanding tasks, (2) a default mode network active during resting state and inhibited during cognitive demanding activity that is involved in internal mentation, and (3) a salience network relevant to attending to survival-relevant events in the environment. We provide an individual overview of the cognitive control, default mode, and salience networks as observed in LLD and discuss how dysfunction in multiple networks contributes to common behavioral syndromes in LLD, including apathy, anxious-depression, and suicidality.

Duke Scholars

Author David Carl Steffens Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Adult Psychiatry & Psychol ...