ReviewCurrent psychiatry reports2012
Where in the brain is depression?
Review in Current psychiatry reports, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 139 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
139 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 301 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neurometabolics of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in major depressive disorder (MDD): A systematic review and meta-analysis.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2026Pooled it
- Neural, Anti-Inflammatory, and Clinical Effects of Transauricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Major Depressive Disorder: A Systematic Review.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Dysmenorrhea and psychological distress: a meta-analysis.Archives of women's mental health · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Differential and spatial expression meta-analysis of genes identified in genome-wide association studies of depression.Translational psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Systematic Review of Functional MRI Applications for Psychiatric Disease Subtyping.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Social Media Usage and Development of Psychiatric Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence: A Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Inhibitory neurotransmission in frontostriatal circuitry: implications for psychomotor and vegetative symptoms in depressive episodes.BMC psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Objectively measured cognitive function in insomnia patients with and without comorbid depression treated with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.BMC psychiatry · 2025Trial
- A pilot study on high amplitude low frequency-music impulse stimulation as an add-on treatment for depression.Brain and behavior · 2019Trial
- Acute tryptophan loading decreases functional connectivity between the default mode network and emotion-related brain regions.Human brain mapping · 2019Trial
- Adaptogenic-Like Potential of Bauhinia forficata Leaf Extracts: Behavioral and Oxidative Outcomes in an Acute Stress Mouse Model.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- DEP-TFDualNet: A Dual-Domain Attention Framework with Temporal-Frequency Fusion for Depression Recognition Using Three-Channel Frontal EEG.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Association between generalized anxiety disorder and health-related quality of life.Annals of general psychiatry · 2026Article
- Cumulative mild stress during early life alters prefrontal astrocytic proteins and elevates peripheral S100B in young adult mice.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Gray Matter Volume Correlates of Co-Occurring Depression in Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Effects of Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Cognitive Function in Bipolar Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial Using the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery.Alpha psychiatry · 2026Article
- C-Reactive Protein and Neurological Autoimmune Diseases: Bridging the Diagnostic and Pathogenic Gap.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Depression in Chinese adolescents: prevalence, symptoms, risk factors, affected brain, diagnosis, and interventions.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
79 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Major depressive disorder is a serious medical illness which is responsible for considerable morbidity and disability. Despite decades of research, the neural basis for depression is still incompletely understood. In this review, evidence from neuroimaging, neuropsychiatric and brain stimulations studies are explored to answer the question regarding the localization of depression in the brain. Neuroimaging studies indicate that although many regions of the brain have been repeatedly implicated in the pathophysiology of depression, not many consistent findings have been found until present. In recent times, the focus of neuroimaging has shifted from regional brain abnormalities to circuit level connectivity abnormalities. However, connectivity models are inherently more complicated, and the validity of these models remains to be tested. Neuropsychiatric studies of illnesses such as Parkinson's disease and stroke provide promising clues regarding areas involved in depression, but again consistent findings are rare. Similarly, stimulation of a variety of brain regions and circuits has been reported as being effective in depression. Therefore, the current knowledge indicates that the pathophysiology of depression may be distributed across many brain regions and circuits. In future studies, this distributed nature of depression needs to be further investigated, primary and secondary areas affected need to be identified, and new paradigms to explain complex mental functions need to be explored.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.