Abstract
The brain-network correlates of personality traits in major depressive
disorder (MDD) have not yet been investigated. Furthermore, it is still
unclear whether personality traits relate to the depressive episode.
This study assessed network properties, depression severity, and
personality traits in patients with MDD (n=25) compared with age- and
sex-matched healthy controls (n=22). MDD patients with different
character traits exhibited significant differences in terms of
depression diagnosis and severity of Hamilton Depression Rating Scale
scores compared to the controls. The MDD patients also exhibited reduced
resting state network activity between the posterior default mode
network, right putamen, and right frontal pole, while self-directness
(SD) was significantly less frequently diagnosed in MDD patients. In
evaluating the network correlates, differences in the SD traits were
significantly associated with critical brain network alterations that
were not evident in other traits. To the best of our knowledge, this is
the first study to provide preliminary evidence of an anomalous
connectome in the SD trait in MDD, thus providing strong evidence for
personalized antidepressant treatment strategies in MDD.