Advances in neuroimaging studies of cerebral small vessel disease combined with depression / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Depression is a common psychiatric symptom in cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD), which has a certain relationship with impairment of cognitive function and can significantly increase the mortality and morbidity of CSVD patients. The occurrence of CVSD-associated depression is less related to psychological stress, but is associated with the impairment of the brain's emotional circuit. This article reviewed the correlation between the imaging features of CVSD and the occurrence and development of depression in recent years, and the neuroimaging mechanism of depression associated with CVSD. Many literatures have shown that deep white matter hyperintensities and asymptomatic lacunar infarction in the basal ganglia are independent risk factors for depression in CSVD, and the reduction of local brain volume is associated with depression. The neuroimaging mechanism of depression associated with CSVD suggests that the occurrence of depressive symptoms is related to the neural circuits in the lobar cortex-subcortical limbic area. These findings provide clues for exploring the neuropathological mechanisms and specific treatment methods of depression associated with CVSD.