A meta‐analytic study of changes in brain activation in depression

A large number of studies with considerably variable methods have been performed to investigate brain regions involved in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder. The aim of this study was to use a quantitative meta-analytic technique to synthesise the results of much of this research.

Three separate quantitative meta-analytical studies were conducted using the Activation Likelihood Estimation technique. Analysis was performed on three types of studies: (1) those conducted at rest comparing brain activation in patients with depression and controls; (2) those involving brain changes following antidepressant treatment; and (3) those comparing brain activation patterns induced by the induction of positive or negative emotion in patients with depression compared with controls.