Research progress of magnetic resonance imaging in thalamus of major depressive disorder

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NING Hongyu LIU Yuwei QIAO Linjun XU Lumeng LI Minglong LI Xianglin

Cite this article as: NING H Y, LIU Y W, QIAO L J, et al. Research progress of magnetic resonance imaging in thalamus of major depressive disorder[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2025, 16(9): 174-180. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.09.026.

Abstract

[Abstract] Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent and disabling mental disorder, ranking among the top ten contributors to worldwide disease burden. The thalamus, serving as a critical neural relay hub and integration center, plays a pivotal role in emotional regulation, cognitive processing, and neural network connectivity. Elucidating the neurobiological underpinnings of MDD and developing more targeted therapeutic interventions have important clinical significance. Recent advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology have enabled comprehensive characterization of thalamic abnormalities in MDD patients across structural, functional, and metabolic. These neuroimaging approaches have emerged as indispensable tools for investigating the neural substrates of MDD pathophysiology.Therefore, this review systematically examines studies that employ various MRI techniques to investigate thalamic abnormalities in MDD, analyzing the shortcomings of current techniques. It aims to elucidate the underlying neuropathological mechanisms and advance clinical applications in diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis, while also offering new perspectives for future research and clinical practice.

[Keywords] major depressive disorder；thalamus；magnetic resonance imaging；structural magnetic resonance imaging；functional magnetic resonance imaging；magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Contributor Information

NING Hongyu LIU Yuwei QIAO Linjun XU Lumeng LI Minglong LI Xianglin^*

School of Medical Imaging, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China

Corresponding author: LI X L, E-mail: xlli@bzmc.edu.cn

Conflicts of interest None.

Publication Information

Received 2025-06-11

Accepted 2025-09-03

DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.09.026

Text

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