Effects of light therapy on amygdala connectivity and serotoninergic system in young adults with subthreshold depression
Background Bright light therapy (BLT) demonstrates efficacy in alleviating subthreshold depression (StD) among young adults. The amygdala plays a critical role in depression.Methods StD subjects were divided into BLT group (N=47) and placebo group (N=42). Depression severity was assessed using HAM-D...
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19585969.2025.2503367 |
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| author | Pan Chen Guanmao Chen Guixian Tang Zibin Yang Wenhao Ma Chao Chen Shilin Sun Yuan Zhang Shu Zhang Zhangzhang Qi Wenjie Fang Lijun Jiang Li Huang Junxian Ma Qian Tao Ying Wang |
| author_facet | Pan Chen Guanmao Chen Guixian Tang Zibin Yang Wenhao Ma Chao Chen Shilin Sun Yuan Zhang Shu Zhang Zhangzhang Qi Wenjie Fang Lijun Jiang Li Huang Junxian Ma Qian Tao Ying Wang |
| author_sort | Pan Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Bright light therapy (BLT) demonstrates efficacy in alleviating subthreshold depression (StD) among young adults. The amygdala plays a critical role in depression.Methods StD subjects were divided into BLT group (N=47) and placebo group (N=42). Depression severity was assessed using HAM-D, Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) pre-/post-8-week intervention. Structural/resting-state fMRI scan was conducted. Seed-based static FC (sFC) and dynamic FC (dFC) analyses of the bilateral amygdala and their subfields were conducted.Results Compared to placebo, BLT showed reduced depression scale, and increased sFC of right basolateral amygdala (BLA)/superficial amygdala (SFA)-right middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and dFC of right centralmedial amygdala (CMA) and right inferior orbital frontal gyrus, and decreased sFC of right amygdalostriatal transition/CMA- left thalamus and dFC of right SFA- right medial prefrontal cortex after intervention; while the whole amygdala and its subnuclei volume did not change significantly after BLT. Right BLA-MTG sFC changes positively correlated with BDI improvement. Baseline amygdala sFC/dFC predicted post-BLT symptom changes. BLT-induced right BLA sFC alterations spatially correlated with 5-HT1A/5-HT2A receptor distributions, and right CMA dFC changes with 5-HT1A.Conclusions Findings suggest BLT modulates amygdala-thalamocortical circuits and serotonergic pathways, highlighting FC biomarkers for treatment efficacy assessment.Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier ChiCTR2000032633. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c4565e392f7044ac8a02745d9f458558 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1958-5969 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-c4565e392f7044ac8a02745d9f4585582025-08-20T03:16:47ZengTaylor & Francis GroupDialogues in Clinical Neuroscience1958-59692025-12-0127118420010.1080/19585969.2025.2503367Effects of light therapy on amygdala connectivity and serotoninergic system in young adults with subthreshold depressionPan Chen0Guanmao Chen1Guixian Tang2Zibin Yang3Wenhao Ma4Chao Chen5Shilin Sun6Yuan Zhang7Shu Zhang8Zhangzhang Qi9Wenjie Fang10Lijun Jiang11Li Huang12Junxian Ma13Qian Tao14Ying Wang15Medical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Basic Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Basic Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Basic Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Basic Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Basic Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaOptical Brain Modulation Group, Tianfu Xinglong Lake Laboratory, Sichuan Province, ChinaDepartment of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Basic Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaBackground Bright light therapy (BLT) demonstrates efficacy in alleviating subthreshold depression (StD) among young adults. The amygdala plays a critical role in depression.Methods StD subjects were divided into BLT group (N=47) and placebo group (N=42). Depression severity was assessed using HAM-D, Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) pre-/post-8-week intervention. Structural/resting-state fMRI scan was conducted. Seed-based static FC (sFC) and dynamic FC (dFC) analyses of the bilateral amygdala and their subfields were conducted.Results Compared to placebo, BLT showed reduced depression scale, and increased sFC of right basolateral amygdala (BLA)/superficial amygdala (SFA)-right middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and dFC of right centralmedial amygdala (CMA) and right inferior orbital frontal gyrus, and decreased sFC of right amygdalostriatal transition/CMA- left thalamus and dFC of right SFA- right medial prefrontal cortex after intervention; while the whole amygdala and its subnuclei volume did not change significantly after BLT. Right BLA-MTG sFC changes positively correlated with BDI improvement. Baseline amygdala sFC/dFC predicted post-BLT symptom changes. BLT-induced right BLA sFC alterations spatially correlated with 5-HT1A/5-HT2A receptor distributions, and right CMA dFC changes with 5-HT1A.Conclusions Findings suggest BLT modulates amygdala-thalamocortical circuits and serotonergic pathways, highlighting FC biomarkers for treatment efficacy assessment.Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier ChiCTR2000032633.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19585969.2025.2503367Light therapyamygdalaFCsubthreshold depressionserotoninergic system |
| spellingShingle | Pan Chen Guanmao Chen Guixian Tang Zibin Yang Wenhao Ma Chao Chen Shilin Sun Yuan Zhang Shu Zhang Zhangzhang Qi Wenjie Fang Lijun Jiang Li Huang Junxian Ma Qian Tao Ying Wang Effects of light therapy on amygdala connectivity and serotoninergic system in young adults with subthreshold depression Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience Light therapy amygdala FC subthreshold depression serotoninergic system |
| title | Effects of light therapy on amygdala connectivity and serotoninergic system in young adults with subthreshold depression |
| title_full | Effects of light therapy on amygdala connectivity and serotoninergic system in young adults with subthreshold depression |
| title_fullStr | Effects of light therapy on amygdala connectivity and serotoninergic system in young adults with subthreshold depression |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of light therapy on amygdala connectivity and serotoninergic system in young adults with subthreshold depression |
| title_short | Effects of light therapy on amygdala connectivity and serotoninergic system in young adults with subthreshold depression |
| title_sort | effects of light therapy on amygdala connectivity and serotoninergic system in young adults with subthreshold depression |
| topic | Light therapy amygdala FC subthreshold depression serotoninergic system |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19585969.2025.2503367 |
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