Functional gradient alteration in individuals with cognitive vulnerability to depression

Establishing a better understanding of the structure of the hierarchy is a primary goal of neuroscience. Recent research has highlighted a connectome gradient dysfunction in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, it remains unclear whether these changes exist prior to the onset of the disease. We used a newly developed resting-state functional connectivity (FC)-based gradient approach to evaluate the principal functional gradient in individuals with cognitive vulnerability to depression (CVD) and healthy controls (HC). We further examined the associations between CVD-related alterations in the principal connectome gradient with multiple cognitive behavioral variables. Individuals with CVD showed significantly lower functional gradient scores in the left ventral insular gyrus than HC. The left ventral insular gyrus gradient score was positively correlated with the total attentional control scale as well as the dimension of attentional control. The left ventral insular gyrus gradient score was negatively correlated with the total BHS scale, the dimension of expectations, the total RRS scale, and the depression-related dimension. The preliminary results indicate that alterations in the principal functional gradient in individuals with CVD might be a biomarker of cognitive vulnerability to MDD, and the alterations may exist prior to the onset of depression.