ArticleTranslational psychiatry2017
Anterior cingulate cortex γ-aminobutyric acid deficits in youth with depression.
Article in Translational psychiatry, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 97 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diminished reward responsiveness is associated with lower reward network GluCEST: an ultra-high field glutamate imaging study.Molecular psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation neurophysiology of patients with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Glutamatergic neurometabolite levels in major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies.Molecular psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- Accelerated TMS for Depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychiatry research · 2019Pooled it
- Ultra-high field magnetic resonance spectroscopy study of transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment in adolescents with depression.BMC psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Markers of Antidepressant Treatment in Adolescents With Major Depressive Disorder.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2019Trial
- Trial
- MKRN1 as a prioritized drug target for postpartum depression: evidence from druggable proteome profiling and multi-layer validation.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Harnessing Nanocarriers to Improve Psychiatric Treatment: Progress, Limitations, and Future Directions.International journal of nanomedicine · 2026Review
- Change in brain molecular landscapes following electrical stimulation of the nucleus accumbens.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Rapid antidepressant effect of single-bout exercise is mediated by adiponectin-induced APPL1 nucleus translocation in anterior cingulate cortex.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- A Systematic Review: Investigating Biomarkers of Anhedonia and Amotivation in Depression and Cannabis Use.JAACAP open · 2025Review
- GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) levels in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex are negatively associated with food motivation in a pediatric sample.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Effects of GABA, Sex, and Stress on Reward Learning in Current and Remitted Major Depression.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2024Article
- Plasma metabolomic profile in orthostatic intolerance children with high levels of plasma homocysteine.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2024Article
- The Role of Glutamine Homeostasis in Emotional and Cognitive Functions.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Influence of food-derived bioactives on gut microbiota compositions and their metabolites by focusing on neurotransmitters.Food science and biotechnology · 2023Review
- Understanding the mechanism of action and clinical effects of neuroactive steroids and GABAergic compounds in major depressive disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2023Review
- Article
- Neuromicrobiology, an emerging neurometabolic facet of the gut microbiome?Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Abnormally low γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels have been consistently reported in adults with major depressive disorder (MDD). Our group extended this finding to adolescents, and documented that GABA deficits were associated with anhedonia. Here we aimed to confirm our prior finding of decreased brain GABA in youth with depression and explore its associations with clinical variables. Forty-four psychotropic medication-free youth with MDD and 36 healthy control (HC) participants (12-21 years) were studied. Participants represent a combined sample of 39 newly recruited youth (MDD=24) and 41 youth from our previously reported study (MDD=20). GABA levels and the combined resonances of glutamate and glutamine (Glx) were measured in vivo in the anterior cingulate cortex using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Youth with depression exhibited significantly lower GABA levels than HC in both the newly reported (P=0.003) and the combined (P=0.003) samples. When depressed participants were classified based on the presence of anhedonia, only the anhedonic MDD subgroup showed reduced GABA levels compared to HC (P=0.002). While there were no associations between any clinical measures and GABA or Glx levels in the new sample, GABA was negatively correlated with only anhedonia severity in the combined MDD group. Furthermore, in the combined sample, hierarchical regression models showed that anhedonia, but not depression severity, anxiety or suicidality, contributed significant variance in GABA levels. This report solidifies the evidence for a GABA deficit early in the course of MDD, which correlates specifically with anhedonia in the disorder.
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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.