A mega-analysis of functional connectivity and network changes in youth major depression

COEX 

Major depressive disorder (MDD) has a lifetime prevalence of 11.1-14.6% [1,2] and represents the leading cause of disability due to mental health conditions for young people aged 10-24 years worldwide [3,4]. Functional neuroimaging can delineate the neural substrates of psychiatric, cognitive, and neurological disorders and potentially provide targets for treatment [5-8]. Youth MDD research however lag behind that in adults where existing resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) studies have yielded inconsistent findings [9]. Further, mega-analysis, involving compilation of independent cohort datasets and offering unprecedented advantages of improved generalizability and increased statistical power, has remained unexplored in youth MDD.