Sleep deprivation increases dorsal nexus connectivity to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in humans

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1317010110
• Publication Date: 2013-11-12T04:48:45Z
• Authors: Oliver G. Bosch; Julia S. Rihm; Milan Scheidegger; Hans-Peter Landolt; Philipp Stämpfli; Janis Brakowski; Fabrizio Esposito; Björn Rasch; Erich Seifritz
• Keywords: Adult; 1000 Multidisciplinary; Depressive Disorder, Major; 10093 Institute of Psychology; DoktoratPsych; 10050 Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology; Prefrontal Cortex; 610 Medicine & health; Electroencephalography; Gyrus Cinguli; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; 570 Life sciences; biology; Humans; Sleep Deprivation; Female; 150 Psychology

SignificanceMajor depressive disorder is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease, affecting 350 million people according to an estimation of the World Health Organization. Today, no valid biomarkers of depression, which could predict the efficacy of a certain treatment in a certain group of patients, exist. Sleep deprivation is an effective and rapid-acting antidepressive treatment. However, the biomechanism of this effect is largely unknown. This study shows the effects of sleep deprivation on human brain functional connectivity alterations via the dorsal nexus, an area which is crucial in major depressive disorder. Here, we offer a neurobiological explanation for the known antidepressive action of sleep deprivation.