Differences in resting‐state brain activity in first‐episode drug‐naïve major depressive disorder patients with and without suicidal ideation

Abstract Despite altered brain activities being associated with suicidal ideation (SI), the neural correlates of SI in major depressive disorder (MDD) have remained elusive. We enrolled 82 first‐episode drug‐naïve MDD patients including 41 with SI and 41 without SI, as well as 41 healthy controls (HCs). Resting‐state functional and structural MRI data were collected. The measures of fractional amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and grey matter volume (GMV) were calculated and compared. Compared with HCs, patients with SI exhibited increased fALFF values in the right rectus gyrus and left medial superior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus and precuneus. Decreased GMV in the right parahippocampal gyrus, insula and middle occipital gyrus and increased GMV in the left superior frontal gyrus were detected in patients with SI. In addition, patients without SI demonstrated increased fALFF values in the right superior frontal gyrus and decreased fALFF values in the right postcentral gyrus. Decreased GMV in the left superior frontal gyrus, right medial superior frontal gyrus, opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, fusiform gyrus and increased left supplementary motor area, superior occipital gyrus, right anterior cingulate gyrus and superior temporal gyrus were revealed in patients with SI. Moreover, in comparison with patients without SI, increased fALFF values were identified in the left precuneus of patients with SI. However, no significant differences were found in GMV between patients with and without SI. These findings might be helpful for finding neuroimaging markers predicting individual suicide risk and detecting targeted brain regions for effective early interventions.