Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40163222›Full record

ArticleBrain imaging and behavior2025

The neurobiology of motivational anhedonia in patients with depression.

Sigrid Breit, Niklaus Denier, Nicolas Mertse, Sebastian Walther, Leila M Soravia, Andrea Federspiel, Roland Wiest, Tobias Bracht

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Brain imaging and behavior, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–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

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Molecular, Structural, and Functional Neuroimaging in Major Depression.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026
    Review
  5. Anhedonia in Depressive Disorder and Schizophrenia: An Overview of Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2025
    Review
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

8 authors.

Sigrid Breit *University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Niklaus Denier *University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Nicolas MertseUniversity Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Sebastian WaltherUniversity Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Leila M SoraviaUniversity Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Andrea FederspielTranslational Imaging Center (TIC), Swiss Institute for Translational and Entrepreneurial Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Roland WiestTranslational Imaging Center (TIC), Swiss Institute for Translational and Entrepreneurial Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Tobias BrachtUniversity Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. tobias.bracht@unibe.ch.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Anhedonia is a core feature of depression. It contains a consummatory and a motivational aspect. Whilst much neuroimaging research in patients with depression focused on the consummatory aspect of anhedonia, less is known about its motivational aspect. This study aimed to explore the neurobiology of networks related to motivational anhedonia. Thirty-eight patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 19 healthy controls underwent diffusion-weighted and resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). For assessment of motivational anhedonia, we summed the values of the CORE non-interactiveness score, and the items 1 (hopelessness) and 7 (work and activities) of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Whole-brain voxel-wise statistical analysis of fractional anisotropy (FA) data was performed using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS). Additionally, we performed a whole-brain comparison of integrated local correlation of rs-fMRI signal (LCOR), to investigate regional functional differences between patients and healthy controls. Whole brain correlations between motivational anhedonia and measures of structural and functional connectivity (FA, and LCOR) were calculated. TBSS-analyses revealed reduced FA in the left superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) in patients with MDD. LCOR was reduced in patients with depression in an adjacent cluster localized in bilateral precunei. Within patients, there was a positive correlation between motivational anhedonia and LCOR in the precunei and a negative correlation in bilateral sensorimotor areas. FA-values did not show significant correlations. These findings suggest that motivational anhedonia in depression is linked to alterations of functional connectivity within bilateral precunei. Observed white matter microstructural alterations in the SLF do not show such an association.

Indexed as

AnhedoniaBrainMajor Depressive DisorderMotivationAdultBrain MappingDiffusion Magnetic Resonance ImagingDiffusion Tensor ImagingFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedNeural PathwaysAnhedoniaDepressionDiffusion tensor imagingResting state functional MRI

Identifiers

PMID40163222
PMCPMC12198281

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.