Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36641802›Full record

SynthesisPsychiatry and clinical neurosciences2023

Structural and functional features of treatment-resistant depression: A systematic review and exploratory coordinate-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies.

Alessandro Miola, Nicola Meda, Giulia Perini, Fabio Sambataro

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Heterogeneous brain alterations in treatment-resistant depression converge on common control networks.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Is the antidepressant efficacy of ketamine and esketamine mediated via opioid mechanisms?European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Alessandro MiolaDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2513-2718
Nicola MedaDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1114-3632
Giulia PeriniDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Fabio SambataroDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesA third of people suffering from major depressive disorder do not experience a significant improvement in their symptoms even after adequate treatment with two different antidepressant medications. This common condition, termed treatment-resistant depression (TRD), severely affects the quality of life of millions of people worldwide, causing long-lasting interpersonal problems and social costs. Given its epidemiological and clinical relevance and the little consensus on whether the neurobiological underpinnings of TRD differ from treatment-sensitive depression (TSD), we sought to highlight the convergent morphometric and functional neuroimaging correlates of TRD.

methodsWe systematically reviewed the published literature on structural and resting-state functional neuroimaging of TRD compared to TSD and healthy controls (HC) and performed exploratory coordinate-based meta-analyses (CBMA) of significant results separately for each modality and multimodally ("all-effects"). CBMAs were also performed for each direction and combining both directions of group contrasts.

resultsOut of the initial 1929 studies, only eight involving 555 participants (189 patients with TRD, 156 with TSD, and 210 HC) were included. In all-effects CBMA, precentral/superior frontal gyrus showed a significant difference between TRD and HC. Functional and structural imaging meta-analyses did not yield statistically significant results. A marginally significant cluster of altered intrinsic activity was found between TRD and HC in the cerebellum/pons.

conclusionsFrontal, cerebellar, and brainstem functions can be involved in the pathophysiology of TRD. However, the design and heterogeneity of the (scarce) published literature hinder the generalizability of the findings.

Indexed as

Major Depressive DisorderDepressionHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingNeuroimagingQuality of Lifedepressionfunctional magnetic resonance imagingmagnetic resonance imagingtreatment-resistant depressionvoxel-based morphometry

Identifiers

PMID36641802
PMCPMC11488613

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Registered trials

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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.