Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) alterations in adults with subthreshold depression after physical exercise: A resting-state fMRI study

Lina Huang; Guofeng Huang; Qingguo Ding; Pei Liang; Chunhong Hu; Hongqiang Zhang; Linlin Zhan; Qianqian Wang; Yikang Cao; Jun Zhang; Wenbin Shen; Xize Jia; Wei Xing

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.08.094

Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) alterations in adults with subthreshold depression after physical exercise: A resting-state fMRI study

J Affect Disord. 2021 Dec 1:295:1057-1065. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.08.094. Epub 2021 Sep 4.

Authors

Lina Huang¹, Guofeng Huang², Qingguo Ding³, Pei Liang⁴, Chunhong Hu⁵, Hongqiang Zhang³, Linlin Zhan⁶, Qianqian Wang⁷, Yikang Cao⁸, Jun Zhang⁹, Wenbin Shen³, Xize Jia¹⁰, Wei Xing¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China; Department of Radiology, Changshu Hospital Affiliated to Xuzhou Medical University, Jiangsu, China.
² School of Information and Electronics Technology, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjian, China.
³ Department of Radiology, Changshu Hospital Affiliated to Xuzhou Medical University, Jiangsu, China.
⁴ Department of Radiology, Changshu Hospital Affiliated to Xuzhou Medical University, Jiangsu, China; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education, Hubei University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
⁵ Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Soochow, Jiangsu, Chna.
⁶ School of Western Language, Heilongjiang University, Heilongjiang, China.
⁷ School of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, Zhejiang, China.
⁸ School of Computer Science and Technology, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang, China.
⁹ Department of Psychiatry, Changshu Third People's Hospital, Changshu, Jiangsu, China.
¹⁰ Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
¹¹ Department of Radiology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: suzhxingwei@suda.edu.cn.

PMID: 34706414
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.08.094

Abstract

Background: Physical exercise has been proved to reduce the risk of major depression in Subthreshold depression (StD) individuals effectively, yet little is known about the spontaneous brain activity changes associated with physical exercise.

Methods: A total of 70 adult subjects, including 38 StD and 32 healthy control (HC) subjects, underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) before and after eight-week aerobic exercise respectively. Then, the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) alterations between the two groups were quantitatively analyzed.

Results: Before exercise intervention, the rs-fMRI data showed increased ALFF of the right putamen in the StD group compared with HC group. After exercise intervention, there was no significant ALFF change observed between the StD and HC groups. The longitudinal ALFF differences from pre- to post- exercise intervention showed significantly decreased ALFF in the right middle and inferior occipital gyrus, right middle and inferior temporal gyrus, right fusiform gyrus (FG), while increased ALFF in the right middle cingulate, right superior parietal louble, right inferior parietal lobule (IPL) (inferior parietal gyrus and supramarginal gyrus), and bilateral precuneus in the StD group. As for HC group, the results showed that decreased ALFF in the right FG and right parahippocampus, while increased ALFF in the right precuneus, right middle cingulate, right supplementary motor area, right superior parietal lobule and right paracentral lobule in the HC group. No significant correlation between changes of ALFF and clinical scale scores in the StD group.

Limitations: The definitions of StD are varied in terms of different studies, the final sample size was relatively small, and the age range of the subjects in this study was narrow. Meanwhile, the exercise intervention trial was short-term.

Conclusions: These results further support the standpoint that physical exercise has the potential to reshape the abnormal patterns of spontaneous brain activity in adults with StD.

Keywords: Exercise; Neuroimaging; Prevention; Resting-state; Subthreshold depression.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Brain / diagnostic imaging
Brain Mapping
Depression*
Exercise
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging*