Previous studies have implicated aberrant reward processing in the pathogenesis of adolescent depression. However, no study has used functional connectivity within a distributed reward network, assessed using resting-state functional MRI (fMRI), to predict the onset of depression in adolescents. This study used reward network-based functional connectivity at baseline to predict depressive disorder at follow-up in a community sample of adolescents.

A total of 637 children 6–12 years old underwent resting-state fMRI. Discovery and replication analyses tested intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) among nodes of a putative reward network. Logistic regression tested whether striatal node strength, a measure of reward-related iFC, predicted onset of a depressive disorder at 3-year follow-up. Further analyses investigated the specificity of this prediction.

Increased left ventral striatum node strength predicted increased risk for future depressive disorder (odds ratio=1.54, 95% CI=1.09–2.18), even after excluding participants who had depressive disorders at baseline (odds ratio=1.52, 95% CI=1.05–2.20). Among 11 reward-network nodes, only the left ventral striatum significantly predicted depression. Striatal node strength did not predict other common adolescent psychopathology, such as anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and substance use.

Aberrant ventral striatum functional connectivity specifically predicts future risk for depressive disorder. This finding further emphasizes the need to understand how brain reward networks contribute to youth depression.

先前的研究暗示青春期抑郁症的发病机制中存在异常的奖励过程。然而，尚无研究使用分布式奖励网络中的功能连通性（通过静息状态功能MRI（fMRI）进行评估）来预测青少年的抑郁症发作。这项研究在基线使用基于奖励网络的功能连接性来预测青少年社区随访中的抑郁症。

共有637名6至12岁的儿童接受了静息功能性核磁共振成像。发现和复制分析测试了假定奖励网络节点之间的固有功能连接（iFC）。Logistic回归测试了纹状体结节强度（一种与奖赏相关的iFC的量度）是否可以预测3年随访中的抑郁症发作。进一步的分析调查了这种预测的特异性。

即使排除基线时患有抑郁症的参与者（几率= 1.52，95％CI = 1.05–），左腹纹状体结点强度的增加仍预示着未来抑郁症风险的增加（几率= 1.54，95％CI = 1.09–2.18）。 2.20）。在11个奖励网络节点中，只有左腹纹状体显着预测了抑郁。纹状体结节强度不能预测其他常见的青少年心理病理学，例如焦虑症，注意力缺陷多动障碍和药物使用。

腹侧纹状体功能异常连接可特别预测抑郁症的未来风险。这一发现进一步强调了必须了解大脑奖励网络如何助长青年抑郁症。