Summary

Major depression is associated with persistent negative affect, increased mental rumination, difficulties in concentration and attention, and impaired ability to interact with people. In this paper, we review the cerebral imaging data supporting these different depressive symptoms at neural level. Beyond neurobiological features, brain imaging has implicated several brain regions and networks in the pathophysiology of major depression. Among these regions, the subgenual cortex, the anterior right insula and the medial prefrontal cortex play major role in precipitating a depressive episode and in maintaining depressive symptoms. Those areas partly belong to the default mode system and to the salience network. We propose here a neural working model suggesting that depression is marked by increased sensitivity to negative social signal and by problem to adequately allocate attentional resources in responses to social stress. This model may pave the way to the development of preventive treatment in subjects at risk for depression.