Examining Smartphone-assessed Executive Function Metrics and Intrinsic Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Depression

Examining Smartphone-assessed Executive Function Metrics and Intrinsic Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Depression | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Examining Smartphone-assessed Executive Function Metrics and Intrinsic Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Depression Julia Heckel, Aaron Clouse, David Klemballa, Joanna Hernandez, and 8 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8297301/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a common and costly mental health condition that is often associated with deficits in executive function. Smartphone applications (“apps”) have emerged as promising methods for assessing mental health-related outcomes in individuals’ daily lives that can detect changes that unfold over time. Although smartphone apps have been used to evaluate executive functioning in individuals with neurological conditions and in other mental health disorders, few studies have examined this in MDD. The present study tested whether smartphone-assessed executive function is (1) impaired in individuals with current MDD (cMDD; n=30) relative to healthy controls (HC; n=43) and (2) related to resting-state functional connectivity within cognitive control-related neural networks. For two weeks, participants completed a set-shifting (Trail Making Test, TMT-B) task on their smartphone. Participants with cMDD had significantly lower TMT accuracy (β=-.24, p=.044) and greater variability in TMT accuracy (β=.25, p=.049) compared to HC. Resting-state analyses revealed that the association between TMT accuracy and connectivity between nodes of the dorsal attention network (bilateral intraparietal sulcus) was greater in HC than cMDD. The results extend previous laboratory-based findings by demonstrating that individuals with cMDD exhibit poorer mean-level smartphone assessed set-shifting performance and greater variability, along with altered set-shifting-related functional connectivity within the dorsal attention network. Smartphone-based assessments may offer a scalable and accessible approach for identifying executive function deficits in individuals with depression, which could potentially be integrated in monitoring treatment effects over time. Biological sciences/Psychology/Human behaviour Biological sciences/Psychology Full Text Additional Declarations The authors have declared there is NO conflict of interest to disclose Table 1 and 2 are available in the Supplementary Files section. Supplementary Files BiAffectEFTablesFinal.pdf Table 1, Table 2 BiAffectEFSupplementFinal.pdf Examining Smartphone-assessed Executive Function Metrics and Intrinsic Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Depression Supplement Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: revise 09 Feb, 2026 Review # 2 received at journal 24 Jan, 2026 Reviewer # 2 agreed at journal 10 Jan, 2026 Review # 1 received at journal 03 Jan, 2026 Reviewer # 1 agreed at journal 18 Dec, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 16 Dec, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 09 Dec, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 09 Dec, 2025 First submitted to journal 08 Dec, 2025 Unknown event 08 Dec, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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