A New Model for the Brain System in Major Depression

According to models of neural systems, various types of limbic activation paired with inadequate cortical inhibition of this activation account for major depressive disorder. These investigators conducted a whole-brain meta-analysis of 14 regional cerebral blood-flow (rCBF) studies and 24 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies comparing depressed and nondepressed individuals at baseline and in response to positively or negatively valenced, visual, memory-related, or anticipation-related stimuli.

The rCBF studies revealed depression-associated increases in baseline activity of the pulvinar nucleus bilaterally. On fMRI, depressed patients had reliably greater response to negative stimuli than healthy controls in the amygdala, dor…