Emotion-Specific or General? An ALE Meta-Analysis of Inhibitory Control Impairments in Patients with Depression

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2026.2022

Abstract

Abstract:

Impaired inhibitory control has been recognized as one of the key factors contributing to the progression of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, it remains unclear whether this impairment is specific to emotional contexts or reflects a domain-general deficit. The present study employed an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis to quantitatively synthesize task-based functional neuroimaging studies and compare neural activation patterns associated with emotional and non-emotional inhibitory control between patients with MDD and healthy controls (HC). Following a systematic literature search and screening process, 19 studies comprising 133 eligible activation foci were included in the analysis. The results revealed that: (1) during emotional inhibitory control tasks, patients with MDD exhibited compensatory hyperactivation in the right middle frontal gyrus, accompanied by reduced convergent activation in the left middle frontal gyrus and right inferior frontal gyrus; and (2) during non-emotional inhibitory control tasks, no brain regions showed consistent between-group differences across studies. These findings suggest that inhibitory control deficits in MDD may be emotion-specific rather than domain-general, with dysfunction primarily involving prefrontal cortical regions. The present findings provide new insights into the role of inhibitory control in the development and maintenance of depression and may inform the development of targeted interventions aimed at improving inhibitory control.

Key words: major depressive disorder, inhibitory control, neural mechanisms, activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis, emotion specificity

LIU Rong, ZHANG Shuangxi, SUN Xiao, ZHANG Guimin, SONG Yaowu. (2026). Emotion-Specific or General? An ALE Meta-Analysis of Inhibitory Control Impairments in Patients with Depression. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 58(10), 2022-2034.

Figures/Tables 6

References 92

	(*indicates studies included in the meta-analysis.)
[1]	Aarts, K., Vanderhasselt, M. A., Otte, G., Baeken, C., & Pourtois, G. (2013). Electrical brain imaging reveals the expression and timing of altered error monitoring functions in major depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 122(4), 939-950. doi: 10.1037/a0034616 URL
[2]	Acar, F., Seurinck, R., Eickhoff, S. B., & Moerkerke, B. (2018). Assessing robustness against potential publication bias in Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) meta-analyses for fMRI. PloS One, 13(11), e0208177. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208177 URL
[3]	* Alders, G. L., Davis, A. D., MacQueen, G., Strother, S. C., Hassel, S., Zamyadi, M.,... CAN-BIND Investigator, Team. (2019). Reduced accuracy accompanied by reduced neural activity during the performance of an emotional conflict task by unmedicated patients with major depression: A CAN-BIND fMRI study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 257, 765-773. doi: S0165-0327(19)30969-3 pmid: 31400735
[4]	Apšvalka, D., Ferreira, C. S., Schmitz, T. W., Rowe, J. B., & Anderson, M. C. (2022). Dynamic targeting enables domain-general inhibitory control over action and thought by the prefrontal cortex. Nature Communications, 13(1), 274.
[5]	Barbour, T., Holmes, A. J., Farabaugh, A. H., DeCross, S. N., Coombs, G., Boeke, E. A.,... Holt, D. J. (2020). Elevated amygdala activity in young adults with familial risk for depression: A potential marker of low resilience. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 5(2), 194-202. doi: S2451-9022(19)30274-5 pmid: 31948836
[6]	Beauregard, M. (2007). Mind does really matter: Evidence from neuroimaging studies of emotional self-regulation, psychotherapy, and placebo effect. Progress in Neurobiology, 81(4), 218-236. pmid: 17349730
[7]	Boen, R., Raud, L., & Huster, R. J. (2022). Inhibitory control and the structural parcelation of the right inferior frontal gyrus. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 16, 787079. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.787079 URL
[8]	Botvinick, M. M., Braver, T. S., Barch, D. M., Carter, C. S., & Cohen, J. D. (2001). Conflict monitoring and cognitive control. Psychological Review, 108(3), 624-652. doi: 10.1037/0033-295x.108.3.624 pmid: 11488380
[9]	Buhle, J. T., Silvers, J. A., Wager, T. D., Lopez, R., Onyemekwu, C., Kober, H.,... Ochsner, K. N. (2014). Cognitive reappraisal of emotion: A meta-analysis of human neuroimaging studies. Cerebral Cortex, 24(11), 2981-2990. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bht154 URL
[10]	Cane, C., Carcone, D., Gardhouse, K., Lee, A. C. H., & Ruocco, A. C. (2023). An exploratory study of functional brain activation underlying response inhibition in major depressive disorder and borderline personality disorder. PloS One, 18(1), e0280215. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280215 URL
[11]	* Carew, C. L., Milne, A. M., Tatham, E. L., MacQueen, G. M., & Hall, G. B. (2013). Neural systems underlying thought suppression in young women with, and at-risk, for depression. Behavioural Brain Research, 257, 13-24. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2013.09.016 pmid: 24055881
[12]	* Chechko, N., Augustin, M., Zvyagintsev, M., Schneider, F., Habel, U., & Kellermann, T. (2013). Brain circuitries involved in emotional interference task in major depression disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 149(1-3), 136-145. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2013.01.013 pmid: 23394712
[13]	Colich, N. L., Foland-Ross, L. C., Eggleston, C., Singh, M. K., & Gotlib, I. H. (2016). Neural aspects of inhibition following emotional primes in depressed adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 45(1), 21-30.
[14]	* Crane, N. A., Jenkins, L. M., Dion, C., Meyers, K. K., Weldon, A. L., Gabriel, L. B.,... Langenecker, S. A. (2016). Comorbid anxiety increases cognitive control activation in major depressive disorder. Depression and Anxiety, 33(10), 967-977. doi: 10.1002/da.22541 pmid: 27454009
[15]	Cristofori, I., Cohen-Zimerman, S., & Grafman, J. (2019). Executive functions. Handbook of Clinical Neurology, 163, 197-219.
[16]	* Dai, Q., Yin, X., Li, H., & Feng, Z. (2018). Orbito-frontal cortex mechanism of inhibition of return in current and remitted depression. Human Brain Mapping, 39(7), 2941-2954. doi: 10.1002/hbm.24051 pmid: 29575563
[17]	Davey, C. G., Yücel, M., Allen, N. B., & Harrison, B. J. (2012). Task-related deactivation and functional connectivity of the subgenual cingulate cortex in major depressive disorder. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 3, 14. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2012.00014 pmid: 22403553
[18]	* Dichter, G. S., Felder, J. N., & Smoski, M. J. (2009). Affective context interferes with cognitive control in unipolar depression: An fMRI investigation. Journal of Affective Disorders, 114(1-3), 131-142. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2008.06.027 pmid: 18706701
[19]	Diener, C., Kuehner, C., Brusniak, W., Ubl, B., Wessa, M., & Flor, H. (2012). A meta-analysis of neurofunctional imaging studies of emotion and cognition in major depression. Neuroimage, 61(3), 677-685. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.04.005 pmid: 22521254
[20]	Diler, R. S., Pan, L. A., Segreti, A., Ladouceur, C. D., Forbes, E., Cela, S. R., … Phillips, M. L. (2014). Differential anterior cingulate activity during response inhibition in depressed adolescents with bipolar and unipolar major depressive disorder. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 23(1), 10-19. pmid: 24516473
[21]	Ehlis, A. C., Zarantonello, L., Haeussinger, F. B., Rohe, T., Rosenbaum, D., Fallgatter, A. J., & Maier, M. J. (2024). The DLPFC is centrally involved in resolving Stroop conflicts, suppressing distracting sensory input within the auditory and visual system. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1427455. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1427455 URL
[22]	* Elliott, R., Rubinsztein, J. S., Sahakian, B. J., & Dolan, R. J. (2002). The neural basis of mood-congruent processing biases in depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 59(7), 597-604. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.59.7.597 pmid: 12090812
[23]	* Eugène, F., Joormann, J., Cooney, R. E., Atlas, L. Y., & Gotlib, I. H. (2010). Neural correlates of inhibitory deficits in depression. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 181(1), 30-35. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2009.07.010 URL
[24]	* Fales, C. L., Barch, D. M., Rundle, M. M., Mintun, M. A., Snyder, A. Z., Cohen, J. D.,... Sheline, Y. I. (2008). Altered emotional interference processing in affective and cognitive-control brain circuitry in major depression. Biological Psychiatry, 63(4), 377-384. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.06.012 pmid: 17719567
[25]	Fascher, M., Nowaczynski, S., & Muehlhan, M. (2024). Substance use disorders are characterised by increased voxel-wise intrinsic measures in sensorimotor cortices: An ALE meta-analysis. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 162, 105712. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105712 URL
[26]	Ferri, J., Eisendrath, S. J., Fryer, S. L., Gillung, E., Roach, B. J., & Mathalon, D. H. (2017). Blunted amygdala activity is associated with depression severity in treatment-resistant depression. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 17(6), 1221-1231.
[27]	Foland-Ross, L. C., Hamilton, J. P., Joormann, J., Berman, M. G., Jonides, J., & Gotlib, I. H. (2013). The neural basis of difficulties disengaging from negative irrelevant material in major depression. Psychological Science, 24(3), 334-344. doi: 10.1177/0956797612457380 pmid: 23334445
[28]	Friedrich, M. J. (2017). Depression Is the Leading Cause of Disability Around the World. JAMA, 317(15), 1517.
[29]	Fu, X., Ding, Y., Chen, J., Liu, F., Li, H., Zhao, J., & Guo, W. (2022). Altered brain functional asymmetry in patients with major depressive disorder related to gastrointestinal symptoms. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15, 797598. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.797598 URL
[30]	Galkin, S. A., & Peshkovskaya, A. (2021). P.0675 Inhibitory control in therapy resistant patients with major depressive disorder. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 53(1), S495.
[31]	Gentili, C., Messerotti Benvenuti, S., Lettieri, G., Costa, C., & Cecchetti, L. (2019). ROI and phobias: The effect of ROI approach on an ALE meta‐analysis of specific phobias. Human Brain Mapping, 40(6), 1814-1828. doi: 10.1002/hbm.v40.6 URL
[32]	Grahn, J. A., Parkinson, J. A., & Owen, A. M. (2008). The cognitive functions of the caudate nucleus. Progress in Neurobiology, 86(3), 141-155. doi: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2008.09.004 pmid: 18824075
[33]	Halari, R., Simic, M., Pariante, C. M., Papadopoulos, A., Cleare, A., Brammer, M., Fombonne, E., & Rubia, K. (2009). Reduced activation in lateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate during attention and cognitive control functions in medication-naïve adolescents with depression compared to controls. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50(3), 307-316. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.2009.50.issue-3 URL
[34]	He, Q. X., Li, Z. L., & Yang, H. B. (2025). Dual-system perspectives: A meta-analytic comparison of striatal and prefrontal cortex activation patterns in substance addiction versus behavioral addiction. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 57(8), 1333-1348. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2025.1333
[35]	Henriques, J. B., & Davidson, R. J. (1991). Left frontal hypoactivation in depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100(4), 535-545. doi: 10.1037//0021-843x.100.4.535 pmid: 1757667
[36]	Imajo, N., Matsuzaki, Y., Kobayashi, A., Sakaki, K., Nouchi, R., & Kawashima, R. (2024). Self-choice emotion regulation enhances stress reduction: Neural basis of self-choice emotion regulation. Brain Sciences, 14(11), 1077.
[37]	Javaheripour, N., Colic, L., Opel, N., Li, M., Maleki Balajoo, S., Chand, T., … Walter, M. (2023). Altered brain dynamic in major depressive disorder: State and trait features. Translational Psychiatry, 13(1), 261.
[38]	Jaworska, N., Yang, X. R., Knott, V., & MacQueen, G. (2015). A review of fMRI studies during visual emotive processing in major depressive disorder. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry: The Official Journal of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry, 16(7), 448-471. doi: 10.3109/15622975.2014.885659 URL
[39]	Joormann, J., & Gotlib, I. H. (2010). Emotion regulation in depression: Relation to cognitive inhibition. Cognition and Emotion, 24(2), 281-298. doi: 10.1080/02699930903407948 URL
[40]	Kang, W., Hernández, S. P., Rahman, M. S., Voigt, K., & Malvaso, A. (2022). Inhibitory control development: A network neuroscience perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 651547. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.651547 URL
[41]	Kikuchi, T., Miller, J. M., Schneck, N., Oquendo, M. A., Mann, J. J., Parsey, R. V., & Keilp, J. G. (2012). Neural responses to incongruency in a blocked-trial Stroop fMRI task in major depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 143(1-3), 241-247. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2012.05.016 pmid: 22995943
[42]	* Korgaonkar, M. S., Grieve, S. M., Etkin, A., Koslow, S. H., & Williams, L. M. (2013). Using standardized fMRI protocols to identify patterns of prefrontal circuit dysregulation that are common and specific to cognitive and emotional tasks in major depressive disorder: First wave results from the iSPOT-D study. Neuropsychopharmacology, 38(5), 863-871. doi: 10.1038/npp.2012.252 pmid: 23303059
[43]	* Langenecker, S. A., Kennedy, S. E., Guidotti, L. M., Briceno, E. M., Own, L. S., Hooven, T., … Zubieta, J. K. (2007). Frontal and limbic activation during inhibitory control predicts treatment response in major depressive disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 62(11), 1272-1280. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.02.019 pmid: 17585888
[44]	Li, Y., Liu, X., Li, J., Zhang, Q., Pan, N., Luo, K.,... Gong, Q. (2025). Common and distinct patterns of brain activity alterations during inhibitory control in depression and psychostimulant users: A comparative meta-analysis of task-based fMRI studies. Psychological Medicine, 55, e218. doi: 10.1017/S0033291725101141 pmid: 40717270
[45]	Lisiecka, D. M., Carballedo, A., Fagan, A. J., Connolly, G., Meaney, J., & Frodl, T. (2012). Altered inhibition of negative emotions in subjects at family risk of major depressive disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 46(2), 181-188. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2011.10.010 pmid: 22078646
[46]	* Liu, C., Dai, J., Chen, Y., Qi, Z., Xin, F., Zhuang, Q.,... Becker, B. (2021). Disorder-and emotional context-specific neurofunctional alterations during inhibitory control in generalized anxiety and major depressive disorder. Neuroimage: Clinical, 30, 102661. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102661 URL
[47]	Loeffler, L. A., Radke, S., Habel, U., Ciric, R., Satterthwaite, T. D., Schneider, F., & Derntl, B. (2018). The regulation of positive and negative emotions through instructed causal attributions in lifetime depression-A functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Neuroimage: Clinical, 20, 1233-1245. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2018.10.025 URL
[48]	Lojowska, M., Gerbracht, J. M., Engelmann, J. B., Roelofs, K., & Mulckhuyse, M. (2025). A transcranial magnetic stimulation study on the role of the right angular gyrus in orienting and reorienting of attention toward threat. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 25(3), 668-678.
[49]	Mansueto, S. P., Romeo, Z., Angrilli, A., & Spironelli, C. (2025). Emotional pictures in the brain and their interaction with the task: A fine-grained fMRI coordinate-based meta-analysis study. Neuroimage, 305, 120986. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120986 URL
[50]	Martínez-Amorós, E., Cardoner, N., Gálvez, V., de Arriba-Arnau, A., Soria, V., Palao, D. J., Menchón, J. M., & Urretavizcaya, M. (2021). Can the addition of maintenance electroconvulsive therapy to pharmacotherapy improve relapse prevention in severe major depressive disorder? A randomized controlled trial. Brain Sciences, 11(10), 1340.
[51]	Matsubara, T., Matsuo, K., Nakashima, M., Nakano, M., Harada, K., Watanuki, T.,... Watanabe, Y. (2014). Prefrontal activation in response to emotional words in patients with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. Neuroimage, 85(Part 1), 489-497. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.04.098 URL
[52]	* Matthews, S., Simmons, A., Strigo, I., Gianaros, P., Yang, T., & Paulus, M. (2009). Inhibition-related activity in subgenual cingulate is associated with symptom severity in major depression. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 172(1), 1-6. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2008.08.006 URL
[53]	Nishizawa, Y., Kanazawa, T., Kawabata, Y., Matsubara, T., Maruyama, S., Kawano, M., … Yoneda, H. (2019). fNIRS Assessment during an Emotional Stroop Task among Patients with Depression: Replication and Extension. Psychiatry Investigation, 16(1), 80-86. doi: 10.30773/pi.2018.11.12.2 pmid: 30696239
[54]	Ochsner, K., N., & Gross, J. J. (2004). Thinking makes it so:A social cognitive neuroscience approach to emotion regulation. In R. F. Baumeister & K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation: Research, theory, and applications (pp. 229-255). Guilford Press.
[55]	Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., … Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. International Journal of Surgery, 88, 105906. doi: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2021.105906 URL
[56]	Palser, E. R., Morris, N. A., Veziris, C. R., Holley, S. R., Wallman- Jones, A., Roy, A. R. K., … Sturm, V. E. (2025). Role of left lateral prefrontal cortex in positive emotion regulation: Insights from dyslexia. Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, 25(6), 1638-1654.
[57]	Peckham, A. D., McHugh, R. K., & Otto, M. W. (2010). A meta-analysis of the magnitude of biased attention in depression. Depression and Anxiety, 27(12), 1135-1142. doi: 10.1002/da.20755 pmid: 21049527
[58]	Perini, G., Cotta Ramusino, M., Sinforiani, E., Bernini, S., Petrachi, R., & Costa, A. (2019). Cognitive impairment in depression: Recent advances and novel treatments. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 15, 1249-1258. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S199746 pmid: 31190831
[59]	Piani, M. C., Maggioni, E., Delvecchio, G., & Brambilla, P. (2022). Sustained attention alterations in major depressive disorder: A review of fMRI studies employing Go/No-Go and CPT tasks. Journal of Affective Disorders, 303, 98-113. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.02.003 pmid: 35139418
[60]	Quigley, L., Wen, A., & Dobson, K. S. (2020). Cognitive control over emotional information in current and remitted depression. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 132, 103658. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2020.103658 URL
[61]	Rey-Mermet, A., Gade, M., & Oberauer, K. (2018). Should we stop thinking about inhibition? Searching for individual and age differences in inhibition ability. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 44(4), 501-526. doi: 10.1037/xlm0000450 URL
[62]	* Richard-Devantoy, S., Ding, Y., Lepage, M., Turecki, G., & Jollant, F. (2016). Cognitive inhibition in depression and suicidal behavior: A neuroimaging study. Psychological Medicine, 46(5), 933-944. doi: 10.1017/S0033291715002421 pmid: 26670261
[63]	* Sacchet, M. D., Levy, B. J., Hamilton, J. P., Maksimovskiy, A., Hertel, P. T., Joormann, J., … Gotlib, I. H. (2017). Cognitive and neural consequences of memory suppression in major depressive disorder. Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, 17(1), 77-93.
[64]	Schnellbächer, G. J., Rajkumar, R., Veselinović, T., Ramkiran, S., Hagen, J., Shah, N. J., & Neuner, I. (2022). Structural alterations of the insula in depression patients - A 7-Tesla-MRI study. Neuroimage: Clinical, 36, 103249. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103249 URL
[65]	Sheena, M. K., Jimmy, J., Burkhouse, K. L., & Klumpp, H. (2021). Anterior cingulate cortex activity during attentional control corresponds with rumination in depression and social anxiety. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 317, 111385. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2021.111385 URL
[66]	Shen, N., Chen, Z., Sun, H., Tian, S., Wang, Y., Huang, Y., … Lu, Q. (2025). Altered dynamic brain activity of recent suicidal ideation and suicidal attempt in depression patients and its relationship with cognitive function. Journal of Affective Disorders, 377, 35-44. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2025.02.054 URL
[67]	Shetty, T., Kashyap, H., Mehta, U. M., & Binu, V. S. (2025). Executive function and emotion regulation in depressive and anxiety disorders: A cross-sectional study. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/025371762513405
[68]	Shimony, O., Einav, N., Bonne, O., Jordan, J. T., Van Vleet, T. M., & Nahum, M. (2021). The association between implicit and explicit affective inhibitory control, rumination and depressive symptoms. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 11490.
[69]	* Simeonova, D., Paunova, R., Stoyanova, K., Todeva-Radneva, A., Kandilarova, S., & Stoyanov, D. (2022). Functional MRI correlates of stroop N-back test underpin the diagnosis of major depression. Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, 21(4), 113.
[70]	Sindermann, L., Leehr, E. J., Redlich, R., Meinert, S., Böhnlein, J., Grotegerd, D., … Dannlowski, U. (2022). Emotion processing in depression with and without comorbid anxiety disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 314, 133-142. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.06.089 pmid: 35803393
[71]	Smith, S. M., & Nichols, T. E. (2009). Threshold-free cluster enhancement: Addressing problems of smoothing, threshold dependence and localisation in cluster inference. Neuroimage, 44(1), 83-98. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.03.061 pmid: 18501637
[72]	Sridhar, M., Azeez, A., & Lissemore, J. I. (2024). TMS-fMRI supports roles for VLPFC and downstream regions in cognitive reappraisal. Journal of Neuroscience, 44(18), e2213232024. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2213-23.2024 URL
[73]	Stevens, E. S., Funkhouser, C. J., Auerbach, R. P., Talati, A., Gameroff, M. G., Posner, J. E.,... Shankman, S. A. (2023). Inhibition predicts the course of depression and anxiety symptoms among adolescents: The moderating role of familial risk. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 211(2), 100-107. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000001584 URL
[74]	Tamm, S., Harmer, C. J., Schiel, J., Holub, F., Rutter, M. K., Spiegelhalder, K., & Kyle, S. D. (2022). No association between amygdala responses to negative faces and depressive symptoms: Cross-sectional data from 28, 638 individuals in the UK Biobank cohort. American Journal of Psychiatry, 179(7), 509-513. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.21050466 URL
[75]	Taylor, W. D., Butters, M. A., Elson, D., Szymkowicz, S. M., Jennette, K., Baker, K., … Ajilore, O. (2025). Reconsidering remission in recurrent late-life depression: Clinical presentation and phenotypic predictors of relapse following successful antidepressant treatment. Psychological Medicine, 54(16), 4896-4907. doi: 10.1017/S0033291724003246 URL
[76]	Thiebaut de Schotten, M., Dell'Acqua, F., Forkel, S. J., Simmons, A., Vergani, F., Murphy, D. G., & Catani, M. (2011). A lateralized brain network for visuospatial attention. Nature Neuroscience, 14(10), 1245-1246. doi: 10.1038/nn.2905 pmid: 21926985
[77]	Tolomeo, S., & Yu, R. (2022). Brain network dysfunctions in addiction: A meta-analysis of resting-state functional connectivity. Translational Psychiatry, 12(1), 41.
[78]	Torralbo, A., Kelley, T. A., Rees, G., & Lavie, N. (2016). Attention induced neural response trade-off in retinotopic cortex under load. Scientific Reports, 6, 33041. doi: 10.1038/srep33041 pmid: 27625311
[79]	Tozzi, L., Goldstein-Piekarski, A. N., Korgaonkar, M. S., & Williams, L. M. (2020). Connectivity of the cognitive control network during response inhibition as a predictive and response biomarker in major depression: Evidence from a randomized clinical trial. Biological Psychiatry, 87(5), 462-472. doi: S0006-3223(19)31617-8 pmid: 31601424
[80]	Turkeltaub, P. E., Eden, G. F., Jones, K. M., & Zeffiro, T. A. (2002). Meta-analysis of the functional neuroanatomy of single-word reading: Method and validation. Neuroimage, 16(3), 765-780. doi: 10.1006/nimg.2002.1131 URL
[81]	Tyler, S. C., Dasgupta, S., Agosta, S., Battelli, L., & Grossman, E. D. (2015). Functional connectivity of parietal cortex during temporal selective attention. Cortex, 65, 195-207. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.01.015 pmid: 25747530
[82]	* Wagner, G., Sinsel, E., Sobanski, T., Köhler, S., Marinou, V., Mentzel, H. J., Sauer, H., & Schlösser, R. G. (2006). Cortical inefficiency in patients with unipolar depression: An event-related FMRI study with the Stroop task. Biological Psychiatry, 59(10), 958-965. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.10.025 pmid: 16458263
[83]	Wan, L., Pei, P., Zhang, Q., & Gao, W. (2024). Specificity in the commonalities of inhibition control: Using meta-analysis and regression analysis to identify the key brain regions in psychiatric disorders. European Psychiatry, 67(1), e69. doi: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2024.1785 pmid: 39397695
[84]	* Wang, L., LaBar, K. S., Smoski, M., Rosenthal, M. Z., Dolcos, F., Lynch, T. R., Krishnan, R. R., & McCarthy, G. (2008). Prefrontal mechanisms for executive control over emotional distraction are altered in major depression. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 163(2), 143-155. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2007.10.004 URL
[85]	Wheeler, R. E., Davidson, R. J., & Tomarken, A. J. (1993). Frontal brain asymmetry and emotional reactivity: A biological substrate of affective style. Psychophysiology, 30(1), 82-89. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1993.tb03207.x pmid: 8416065
[86]	Yan, H., Lau, W. K. W., Eickhoff, S. B., Long, J., Song, X., Wang, C., … Zhang, R. (2022). Charting the neural circuits disruption in inhibitory control and its subcomponents across psychiatric disorders: A neuroimaging meta-analysis. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry, 119, 110618.
[87]	* Yang, T., Lei, X., & Anderson, M. (2016). Decreased inhibitory control of negative information in directed forgetting. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 100, 44-51. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.09.007 pmid: 26386395
[88]	Zacková, L., Jáni, M., Brázdil, M., Nikolova, Y. S., & Marečková, K. (2021). Cognitive impairment and depression: Meta-analysis of structural magnetic resonance imaging studies. Neuroimage: Clinical, 32, 102830. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102830 URL
[89]	Zheng, M., Da, H., Pan, X., Bian, Y., Li, X., Xiao, Q.,... Zhang, Y. (2023). Dorsolateral prefrontal activation in depressed young adults with and without suicidal ideation during an emotional autobiographical memory task: A fNIRS study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 326, 216-224. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.115 pmid: 36736791
[90]	Zhou, H. X., Chen, X., Shen, Y. Q., Li, L., Chen, N. X., Zhu, Z. C.,... Yan, C. G. (2020). Rumination and the default mode network: Meta- analysis of brain imaging studies and implications for depression. NeuroImage, 206, 116287. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116287 URL
[91]	Zhuang, Q., Qiao, L., Xu, L., Yao, S., Chen, S., Zheng, X., … Becker, B. (2023). The right inferior frontal gyrus as pivotal node and effective regulator of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical response inhibition circuit. Psychoradiology, 3, kkad016.
[92]	Zuo, Z., Ran, S., Wang, Y., Li, C., Han, Q., Tang, Q.,... Li, H. (2018). Altered structural covariance among the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and amygdala in treatment-naive patients with major depressive disorder. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 323. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00323 URL

Study	Task	Difference	Method	Foci type	Behavioral results
Liu et al. (2021)	E-GNG	MDD < HC	WB	E	ACC: MDD < HC
Wang et al. (2008)	E-OB	MDD < HC	Both	E	RT: MDD < HC
Chechko et al. (2013)	E-stroop	Both	WB	E	ACC (Neg): MDD < HC
Eugène et al. (2010)	NAP	MDD > HC	Both	E	No
Yang et al. (2016)	DF	MDD > HC	WB	E	DFE (Neg): MD < HC
Elliott et al. (2002)	E-GNG	MDD > HC	ROI	E	No
Carew et al. (2013)	TS	Both	WB	E	—
Dai et al. (2018)	IOR	MDD > HC	ROI	Both	IOR (Neu): MDD > HC
Sacchet et al. (2017)	TNT	MDD > HC	WB	Both	No
Dichter et al. (2009)	OB	Both	WB	Both	No
Fales et al. (2008)	Stroop	Both	WB	Both	No
Alders et al. (2019)	Stroop	MD < HC	WB	N	No
Simeonova et al. (2022)	Stroop n-back	MDD > HC	WB	N	ACC: MD < HC
Langenecker et al. (2007)	GNG	MDD > HC	WB	N	Rejections: MDD > HC
Richard-Devantoy et al. (2016)	GNG	MDD > HC	WB	N	No
Korgaonkar et al. (2013)	GNG	MDD > HC	Both	N	No
Wagner et al. (2006)	Stroop	MDD > HC	ROI	N	No
Crane et al. (2016)	GNG	MDD < HC	WB	N	No
Matthews et al. (2009)	SST	MDD > HC	WB	N	No

Study	Task	Difference	Method	Foci type	Behavioral results
Liu et al. (2021)	E-GNG	MDD < HC	WB	E	ACC: MDD < HC
Wang et al. (2008)	E-OB	MDD < HC	Both	E	RT: MDD < HC
Chechko et al. (2013)	E-stroop	Both	WB	E	ACC (Neg): MDD < HC
Eugène et al. (2010)	NAP	MDD > HC	Both	E	No
Yang et al. (2016)	DF	MDD > HC	WB	E	DFE (Neg): MD < HC
Elliott et al. (2002)	E-GNG	MDD > HC	ROI	E	No
Carew et al. (2013)	TS	Both	WB	E	—
Dai et al. (2018)	IOR	MDD > HC	ROI	Both	IOR (Neu): MDD > HC
Sacchet et al. (2017)	TNT	MDD > HC	WB	Both	No
Dichter et al. (2009)	OB	Both	WB	Both	No
Fales et al. (2008)	Stroop	Both	WB	Both	No
Alders et al. (2019)	Stroop	MD < HC	WB	N	No
Simeonova et al. (2022)	Stroop n-back	MDD > HC	WB	N	ACC: MD < HC
Langenecker et al. (2007)	GNG	MDD > HC	WB	N	Rejections: MDD > HC
Richard-Devantoy et al. (2016)	GNG	MDD > HC	WB	N	No
Korgaonkar et al. (2013)	GNG	MDD > HC	Both	N	No
Wagner et al. (2006)	Stroop	MDD > HC	ROI	N	No
Crane et al. (2016)	GNG	MDD < HC	WB	N	No
Matthews et al. (2009)	SST	MDD > HC	WB	N	No

Study	Depression Diagnosis and Severity Assessment				Numbers of partipants		Gender ratio (female/male)		Age (Mean ± SD/Range)
Study	Diagnostic Criteria	Measurement scales	MDD scores Mean (SD)/Median (Range)	HC scores Mean (SD)/Median (Range)	MDD	HC	MDD	HC	MDD	HC
Liu et al. (2021)	DSM-IV	BDI-II	33.00 (12.00~49.00)	3.50(0~21.00)	30	34	23/7	22/12	27.97 ± 8.16	26.53 ± 9.29
Wang et al. (2008)	DSM-IV	HAM-D	19.90(5.30)	0.55(0.80)	19	20	12/7	13/7	39.30 ± 9.00	36.50 ± 10.50
Chechko et al. (2013)	DSM-IV	BDI HAM-D	31.70(8.20) 22.70(5.00)	1.40(2.60)	18	18	13/5	13/5	36.50 ± 10.80	36.00 ± 10.30
Eugène et al. (2010)	DSM-IV	BDI-II	29.00(10.4)	1.00(1.60)	12	12	6/6	8/4	34.40 ± 11.70	33.80 ± 9.90
Yang et al. (2016)	DSM-IV	BDI HAM-D	16.80(8.70) 21.30(5.40)	5.50(4.10) 2.60(1.40)	16	16	9/7	10/6	32.00 ± 8.24	30.00 ± 8.98
Elliott et al. (2002)	DSM-IV	HAM-D MADR	23.10(3.90) 31.30(5.20)	—	10	11	—	—	42.20 ± 8.30	37.60 ± 9.70
Carew et al. (2013)	DSM-IV	BDI-II HAM-D	30.30(9.40) 15.40(3.90)	8.80(6.50)	15	16	15/0	16/0	16.00~24.00	16.00~24.00
Dai et al. (2018)	DSM-IV	BDI-II HAM-D PHQ-9	35.86(10.12) 23.43(2.94) 21.00(5.80)	2.12(1.62) 1.76(1.12) 1.09(1.26)	30	33	23/7	21/12	48.77 ± 11.88	48.85 ± 12.86
Sacchet et al. (2017)	DSM-IV	BDI	31.10(9.50)	1.80(2.20)	16	16	9/7	8/8	31.50 ± 8.90	31.70 ± 10.00
Dichter et al. (2009)	DSM-IV	BDI	26.90(4.90)	0.70(1.20)	14	15	7/7	9/6	34.80 ± 14.30	30.80 ± 9.60
Fales et al. (2008)	DSM-IV	HAM-D	20.00(2.30)	0.30(0.60)	27	24	17/10	12/12	33.40 ± 8.00	36.40 ± 9.00
Alders et al. (2019)	DSM-IV	MADR	30.00(6.00)	1.00(2.00)	48	30	33/15	22/8	34.70 ± 12.20	33.20 ± 9.80
Simeonova et al. (2022)	DSM-IV	HAM-D	23.20(5.00)	2.70(3.00)	24	26	15/9	18/8	37.70 ± 14.00	39.00 ± 12.40
Langenecker et al. (2007)	DSM-IV	BDI-II HAM-D	25.00(9.70) 20.40(7.60)	1.20(1.80) 1.10(2.00)	16	17	—	—	41.00 ± 12.20	34.20 ± 11.00
Richard-Devantoy et al. (2016)	DSM-IV	HAM-D-24	29.60(5.20)	0.80(1.30)	22	27	15/7	17/10	41.30 ± 11.40	33.80 ± 7.10
Korgaonkar et al. (2013)	DSM-IV	HAM-D	19.20(3.10)	1.30(1.40)	30	30	18/12	18/12	41.20 ± 15.80	35.70 ± 14.10
Wagner et al. (2006)	DSM-IV	HAM-D	23.50(4.90)	—	16	16	16/0	16/0	40.30 ± 9.70	38.80 ± 9.10
Crane et al. (2016)	DSM-IV	HAM-D	20.76(7.25)	0.85(1.90)	18	54	11/7	38/16	34.28 ± 11.69	33.80 ± 11.56
Matthews et al. (2009)	DSM-IV	BDI-II	15.00~43.00	0~3.00	12	15	—	—	19.00~35.00	19.00~37.00

Study	Depression Diagnosis and Severity Assessment				Numbers of partipants		Gender ratio (female/male)		Age (Mean ± SD/Range)
Study	Diagnostic Criteria	Measurement scales	MDD scores Mean (SD)/Median (Range)	HC scores Mean (SD)/Median (Range)	MDD	HC	MDD	HC	MDD	HC
Liu et al. (2021)	DSM-IV	BDI-II	33.00 (12.00~49.00)	3.50(0~21.00)	30	34	23/7	22/12	27.97 ± 8.16	26.53 ± 9.29
Wang et al. (2008)	DSM-IV	HAM-D	19.90(5.30)	0.55(0.80)	19	20	12/7	13/7	39.30 ± 9.00	36.50 ± 10.50
Chechko et al. (2013)	DSM-IV	BDI HAM-D	31.70(8.20) 22.70(5.00)	1.40(2.60)	18	18	13/5	13/5	36.50 ± 10.80	36.00 ± 10.30
Eugène et al. (2010)	DSM-IV	BDI-II	29.00(10.4)	1.00(1.60)	12	12	6/6	8/4	34.40 ± 11.70	33.80 ± 9.90
Yang et al. (2016)	DSM-IV	BDI HAM-D	16.80(8.70) 21.30(5.40)	5.50(4.10) 2.60(1.40)	16	16	9/7	10/6	32.00 ± 8.24	30.00 ± 8.98
Elliott et al. (2002)	DSM-IV	HAM-D MADR	23.10(3.90) 31.30(5.20)	—	10	11	—	—	42.20 ± 8.30	37.60 ± 9.70
Carew et al. (2013)	DSM-IV	BDI-II HAM-D	30.30(9.40) 15.40(3.90)	8.80(6.50)	15	16	15/0	16/0	16.00~24.00	16.00~24.00
Dai et al. (2018)	DSM-IV	BDI-II HAM-D PHQ-9	35.86(10.12) 23.43(2.94) 21.00(5.80)	2.12(1.62) 1.76(1.12) 1.09(1.26)	30	33	23/7	21/12	48.77 ± 11.88	48.85 ± 12.86
Sacchet et al. (2017)	DSM-IV	BDI	31.10(9.50)	1.80(2.20)	16	16	9/7	8/8	31.50 ± 8.90	31.70 ± 10.00
Dichter et al. (2009)	DSM-IV	BDI	26.90(4.90)	0.70(1.20)	14	15	7/7	9/6	34.80 ± 14.30	30.80 ± 9.60
Fales et al. (2008)	DSM-IV	HAM-D	20.00(2.30)	0.30(0.60)	27	24	17/10	12/12	33.40 ± 8.00	36.40 ± 9.00
Alders et al. (2019)	DSM-IV	MADR	30.00(6.00)	1.00(2.00)	48	30	33/15	22/8	34.70 ± 12.20	33.20 ± 9.80
Simeonova et al. (2022)	DSM-IV	HAM-D	23.20(5.00)	2.70(3.00)	24	26	15/9	18/8	37.70 ± 14.00	39.00 ± 12.40
Langenecker et al. (2007)	DSM-IV	BDI-II HAM-D	25.00(9.70) 20.40(7.60)	1.20(1.80) 1.10(2.00)	16	17	—	—	41.00 ± 12.20	34.20 ± 11.00
Richard-Devantoy et al. (2016)	DSM-IV	HAM-D-24	29.60(5.20)	0.80(1.30)	22	27	15/7	17/10	41.30 ± 11.40	33.80 ± 7.10
Korgaonkar et al. (2013)	DSM-IV	HAM-D	19.20(3.10)	1.30(1.40)	30	30	18/12	18/12	41.20 ± 15.80	35.70 ± 14.10
Wagner et al. (2006)	DSM-IV	HAM-D	23.50(4.90)	—	16	16	16/0	16/0	40.30 ± 9.70	38.80 ± 9.10
Crane et al. (2016)	DSM-IV	HAM-D	20.76(7.25)	0.85(1.90)	18	54	11/7	38/16	34.28 ± 11.69	33.80 ± 11.56
Matthews et al. (2009)	DSM-IV	BDI-II	15.00~43.00	0~3.00	12	15	—	—	19.00~35.00	19.00~37.00

Regions	MNI (x, y, z)	Volume (mm³)	ALE	Brodmann area	Numbers of contributing studies	FSN
MDD > HC (k = 9)
Right Middle Frontal Gyrus	34, 38, 32	312	0.0151	BA9	2	3 < 21 < 31
MDD < HC (k = 5)
Left Middle Frontal Gyrus	-36, 40, 16	232	0.0131	BA10	2	2 < 12 < 35
Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus	50, 14, 18	320	0.0174		2	2 < 26 < 35