Shared cortical characteristics in major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and chronic pain: a structural MRI meta-analysis study

Chronic pain (CP) is closely related with major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorders (ANX), with high comorbidity and shared risk factors. Prior studies have demonstrated common neural correlates across the three disorders, but their neuroanatomic basis is not fully clear. Hence, the preregistered meta-analysis (CRD42019119709) intended to explore common alterations in cortical thickness among CP, MDD, and ANX, a widely used parameter for quantitatively assessing various cerebral conditions with high sensitivity to pathology in neuropsychology. A total of 68 studies comprising 3072 patients and 3427 healthy controls were finally included. Across the disorders, four common clusters with a significant reduction in cortical thickness were identified, including right insula, left anterior cingulate (AC), triangular part of the left inferior gyrus (IFG), and left middle temporal gyrus (MTG). Our findings suggested the shared cortical deficits involving ACC-insula/IFG circuit and left MTG in CP, MDD and ANX, revealing common neural correlates for cognitive and emotional processing in these highly comorbid disorders.