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• Clinical Article •
Research on the mechanism of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging in major depressive disorder complicated with sleep disturbances
YANG Keshuo  WANG Xiaoqi  SHEN Yu  FANG Shaobo  CHEN Chuanliang  WANG Meiyun 

DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.02.001.


[Abstract] Objective To explore the abnormal functional connections in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) complicated with sleep disturbances using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and seed-based resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC) method, expecting to more comprehensively reveal the neural mechanisms of MDD with sleep disturbances and provide reliable imaging evidence for clinical diagnosis and treatment planning.Materials and Methods A total of 35 patients diagnosed with MDD complicated with sleep disturbances and 30 healthy controls who visited Henan Provincial People's Hospital from December 2022 to October 2024 were enrolled in this study. General information including gender, age, ethnicity, and years of education was collected from all subjects, and data from Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scales were collected from MDD patients with sleep disturbances. Then, 3D-T1-MPRAGE and resting-state functional magnetic resonance data were acquired from all subjects. Preprocessing of fMRI data was conducted using the REST package in MATLAB; bilateral suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) were defined as seed regions for rs-FC analysis to quantify functional connectivity strength between seeds and voxels in other brain regions.Results First, we found a strong positive correlation between the scores of the PSQI and the HAMD-17 (r = 0.713, P < 0.001). Second, we observed reduced functional connectivity between the right SCN and the left dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus (t = -4.505 7, P < 0.005), between the left SCN and the left precuneus (t = -3.157 6, P < 0.005), as well as between the right SCN and the left medial orbital superior frontal gyrus (t = -3.588 1, P < 0.005).Conclusions This study reveals that MDD patients comorbid with sleep disturbances exhibit specific reductions in functional connectivity between the SCN and multiple brain regions. These abnormal functional connections among the relevant brain regions are significantly correlated with the severity of depressive and sleep symptoms, suggesting that the abnormalities of these pathways may play an important role in the pathogenesis of MDD comorbid with sleep disturbances.
[Keywords] depression；sleep disturbances；magnetic resonance imaging；functional magnetic resonance imaging；functional connectivity

YANG Keshuo1   WANG Xiaoqi2   SHEN Yu1   FANG Shaobo1   CHEN Chuanliang1   WANG Meiyun1*  

1 Department of Medical Imaging, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou 450003, China

2 Department of Medical Imaging, Zhengzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Zhengzhou 450003, China

Corresponding author: WANG M Y, E-mail: mywang@zzu.edu.cn

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2025-10-10
Accepted  2026-01-02
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.02.001
DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.02.001.

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