Brain structural changes underlying clinical symptom improvement following fast-acting treatments in treatment resistant depression.
Journal of affective disorders January 15, 2025 Zhiliang Long, Jiao Li, Marco Marino 7 citations
Electroconvulsive therapy, ketamine infusion, and total sleep deprivation all reduced depressive symptoms in 127 patients with treatment-resistant depression, but they affected other clinical measurements and brain structures differently. All three treatments increased gray matter volume in the left caudate. Only electroconvulsive therapy increased gray matter volume in the hippocampus, parahippocampus, amygdala, insula, fusiform gyrus, and several occipital and temporal areas. Neither baseline gray matter volume nor its change correlated with depressive symptom improvement for any treatment. The findings suggest that different rapid interventions for treatment-resistant depression have distinct effects on brain structure, which may help personalize treatment.