Characteristic brain function and network activity patterns in adolescent first-episode depression: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

In summary, neurofunctional abnormalities in adolescent FED patients involve the temporal lobe emotion-processing network, prefrontal executive control system, and default mode network (DMN). Aberrant low-frequency activity in the temporal pole and superior frontal gyrus may exacerbate emotion dysregulation, whereas hyperactivation of the precuneus and visual cortex could potentiate negative self-referential processing. Notably, the right middle occipital gyrus may represent a distinctive biomarker of adolescent depression. These findings provide novel insights into the early neural mechanisms underlying adolescent depression and suggest that non-invasive neuromodulation techniques targeting specific brain regions (e.g., transcranial magnetic stimulation, TMS) hold therapeutic potential.