ABSTRACT
The paper was aimed to summarize the development of vascular depression (VD) in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of brain research,including diffusion tensor imaging and blood oxygenation level dependentfMRI.Through the real-time imaging of brain tissues and brain function in VD patients,it was found that the neurological and brain function in the brain regions related to depression were changed.The main pathologic changes were abnormal white matter hyperintensities of the brains.The key link of VD pathogenesis was that limbic systemcortex-striatum-thalamus circuits were destroyed.And the main performance of VD in fMRI was abnormal brain function connection in prefrontal cortex,limbic cortex (i.e.,cingulate gyrus,hippocampal gyrus),amygdala,cerebellum,and etc.in fMRI.The pathogenesis of VD was complex.As a noninvasive living brain function detection technique,fMRI will play an important role in the comprehensive understanding of VD and provide new ideas in clinical diagnosis and treatment.