TABLE 1.

Summary of future directions of fMRI studies to improve the identification of biomarkers in major depressive disorder

	Future opportunities	Benefits
Image acquisition	Higher magnetic field strength Multiband imaging Multiecho imaging	SNR and BOLD sensitivity increase Less signal dropout Scanning time reduction
Image processing	Neural network‐based cleaning methods	Improved noise cleaning by: ▪More accurate identification of non‐BOLD independent components ▪Optimized motion regressors
Image analysis	Causality in brain activation Functional neurodynamics Identification of depression biotypes	More extensive insights on potential functional abnormalities of MDD Address MDD heterogeneity

Note: A summary of future opportunities of functional MRI studies to identify more consistent major depressive disorder biomarkers.

Abbreviations: BOLD, blood‐oxygen‐level dependent; MDD, major depressive disorder; SNR, signal‐to‐noise ratio.