Vertex-wise cortical abnormalities in major depressive disorder from 64 cohorts from the DIRECT and ENIGMA MDD consortia

CG Yan; ZH Wang; LKM Han; N Alexander; D Alnæs; Z Başgöze; SEEC Bauduin; J Bauer; F Benedetti; K Berger; B Besteher; T Borgers; R Bülow; LP Cao; GM Chen; JS Chen; SC Chen; T Chen; TL Chen; X Chen; YR Chen; YQ Cheng; ZS Chu; R Colle; CG Connolly; E Corruble; B Couvy-Duchesne; XL Cui; KR Cullen; U Dannlowski; C Davey; D Dima; A Dols; T Erwin-Grabner; JW Evans; K Flinkenflügel; CHY Fu; P Fuentes-Claramonte; QL Gao; QY Gong; AS Gönül; IH Gotlib; R Goya-Maldonado; HJ Grabe; N Groenewold; D Grotegerd; WB Guo; T Hahn; GB Hall; JP Hamilton; B Harrison; S Hatton; CC He; M Hermesdorf; IB Hickie; TC Ho; ZJY Hu; Q Huang; N Jahanshad; H Jamalabadi; A Jamieson; XL Ji; FN Jia; T Kamishikiryo; T Kircher; SM Koopowitz; A Kraus; A Krug; L Kuang; J Lagopoulos; T Lancaster; NI Landrø; EJ Leehr; M Li; BJ Li; F Li; HX Li; T Li; XY Li; YF Liao; ZD Lin; DEJ Linden; HL Liu; XY Liu; ZN Liu; YS Liu; YC Long; JP Lu; B Lu; FP MacMaster; LA Maglanoc; AM McIntosh; S Medland; DMA Mehler; S Meinert; B Mwangi; A Ojha; G Okada; ML Oudega; BWJH Penninx

Journal article

Vertex-wise cortical abnormalities in major depressive disorder from 64 cohorts from the DIRECT and ENIGMA MDD consortia

CG Yan, ZH Wang, LKM Han, N Alexander, D Alnæs, Z Başgöze, SEEC Bauduin, J Bauer, F Benedetti, K Berger, B Besteher, T Borgers, R Bülow, LP Cao, GM Chen, JS Chen, SC Chen, T Chen, TL Chen, X Chen Show all

Nature Mental Health | Published : 2026

DOI: 10.1038/s44220-026-00667-9

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is common and disabling, yet reported brain structural differences vary across studies. Here we performed a large vertex-wise (point-by-point) meta-analysis of cortical thickness and surface area using harmonized magnetic resonance imaging processing across 64 cohorts from the Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) MDD and Depression Imaging Research Consortium (DIRECT) consortia (5,736 patients; 6,538 controls). We show significantly lower cortical thickness in patients with MDD in multiple brain regions, including the inferior parietal, lateral occipital, superior parietal, medial and lateral orbitofrontal, anterior and posterior cing..

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