ArticleArchives of general psychiatry2012
Anterior cingulate cortex γ-aminobutyric acid in depressed adolescents: relationship to anhedonia.
Article in Archives of general psychiatry, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 117 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
117 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 196 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neurobiological insights into perinatal depression: a multi-dimensional integration of brain structure, function, and metabolism.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Medial Frontal Cortex GABA Concentrations in Psychosis Spectrum and Mood Disorders: A Meta-analysis of Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Studies.Biological psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Diminished reward responsiveness is associated with lower reward network GluCEST: an ultra-high field glutamate imaging study.Molecular psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of central and peripheral γ-aminobutyric acid levels in patients with unipolar and bipolar depression.Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN · 2018Pooled it
- Brain GABA levels across psychiatric disorders: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis of (1) H-MRS studies.Human brain mapping · 2016Pooled it
- The underlying neurobiology of key functional domains in young people with mood and anxiety disorders: a systematic review.BMC psychiatry · 2016Pooled it
- Ultra-high field magnetic resonance spectroscopy study of transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment in adolescents with depression.BMC psychiatry · 2026Trial
- A Dose-Finding, Biomarker Validation, and Effectiveness Study of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Adolescents With Depression.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Does the change in glutamate to GABA ratio correlate with change in depression severity? A randomized, double-blind clinical trial.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Trial
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Markers of Antidepressant Treatment in Adolescents With Major Depressive Disorder.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2019Trial
- A Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial of Omega-3 Fatty Acids as a Monotherapy for Adolescent Depression.The Journal of clinical psychiatry · 2018Trial
- Imbalance in excitation and inhibition in sgACC is associated with depression in dementia with Lewy bodies.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- The kynurenine pathway in relation to depression and anhedonia symptom severity among women with HIV.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Prefrontal Cortex Dysfunction as a Precipitating Factor for Schizophrenia and Depression.Journal of neurochemistry · 2026Review
- MKRN1 as a prioritized drug target for postpartum depression: evidence from druggable proteome profiling and multi-layer validation.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- A review of mechanisms and optimization strategies for clinical improvement after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in bipolar disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Change in brain molecular landscapes following electrical stimulation of the nucleus accumbens.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- An examination of anhedonia as a predictor of response with transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment for youth with depression.Journal of mood and anxiety disorders · 2025Article
- A Systematic Review: Investigating Biomarkers of Anhedonia and Amotivation in Depression and Cannabis Use.JAACAP open · 2025Review
- Association of Lower Rostral Anterior Cingulate GABA+ and Dysregulated Cortisol Stress Response With Altered Functional Connectivity in Young Adults With Lifetime Depression: A Multimodal Imaging Investigation of Trait and State Effects.The American journal of psychiatry · 2024Article
57 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
contextAnhedonia, a core symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD) and highly variable among adolescents with MDD, may involve alterations in the major inhibitory amino acid neurotransmitter system of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA).
objectiveTo test whether anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) GABA levels, measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, are decreased in adolescents with MDD. The associations of GABA alterations with the presence and severity of anhedonia were explored.
designCase-control, cross-sectional study using single-voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 3 T.
settingTwo clinical research divisions at 2 teaching hospitals.
participantsTwenty psychotropic medication-free adolescents with MDD (10 anhedonic, 12 female, aged 12-19 years) with episode duration of 8 weeks or more and 21 control subjects group matched for sex and age.
main outcome measuresAnterior cingulate cortex GABA levels expressed as ratios relative to unsuppressed voxel tissue water (w) and anhedonia scores expressed as a continuous variable.
resultsCompared with control subjects, adolescents with MDD had significantly decreased ACC GABA/w (t = 3.2; P < .003). When subjects with MDD were categorized based on the presence of anhedonia, only anhedonic patients had decreased GABA/w levels compared with control subjects (t = 4.08; P < .001; P(Tukey) < .001). Anterior cingulate cortex GABA/w levels were negatively correlated with anhedonia scores for the whole MDD group (r = -0.50; P = .02), as well as for the entire participant sample including the control subjects (r = -0.54; P < .001). Anterior cingulate cortex white matter was also significantly decreased in adolescents with MDD compared with controls (P = .04).
conclusionsThese findings suggest that GABA, the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, may be implicated in adolescent MDD and, more specifically, in those with anhedonia. In addition, use of a continuous rather than categorical scale of anhedonia, as in the present study, may permit greater specificity in evaluating this important clinical feature.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.