Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Individualized rTMS Treatment for Depression using an fMRI-Based Targeting Method
Published on: August 2, 2021
Cortical gamma-aminobutyric acid concentrations in depressed patients receiving cognitive behavioral therapy
Gerard Sanacora1, Lisa R Fenton, Madonna K Fasula
1Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. gerard.sanacora@yale.edu
Background:
Reduced gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations have been reported in plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, and cortex of depressed subjects. Treatment with both electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) increased occipital cortex GABA concentrations in prior studies. The purpose of this study was to determine whether treatment of major depression with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) produces similar changes in cortical GABA concentrations.
Methods:
Occipital cortex GABA concentrations were measured in eight subjects with Major Depressive Disorder prior to and after a course of CBT using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Results:
The effect of CBT on occipital cortex GABA content was different than that seen for ECT and SSRI medication treatment of depressed patients.
Conclusions:
This preliminary finding suggests CBT has a less robust effect on cortical GABA content than ECT and SSRI treatments and might indicate a difference between the mechanisms of antidepressant action.
Related Concept Videos
Cognitive Therapy
G-protein Coupled Receptors
Beck's Cognitive Therapy
Arbitrary Inference
Arbitrary inference involves making conclusions without sufficient...
Electroconvulsive Therapy
Depression: Overview
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
