Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 7, 2025
Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Hyperscanning Study in Psychological Counseling
Published on: January 17, 2025
Abnormal Prefrontal Brain Activation During a Verbal Fluency Task in Treatment-Resistant Depression Using
Jing-Jing Sun1, Chen-Yu Shen2, Xiao-Min Liu2
1Zhenjiang Mental Health Center, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China.
Objective:
The study investigated cognitive performance and brain function between treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and non- TRD patients to find potential neurobiological markers associated with refractoriness in depression patients.
Methods:
Fourteen TRD patients, 26 non-TRD patients and 23 healthy controls (HC) were included in the present study. The neural function of prefrontal cortex (PFC) and cognitive performance among the three group were examined using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) during verbal fluency task (VFT).
Results:
Both TRD and non-TRD groups exhibited significantly worse VFT performance and lower activation of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) changes in the bilateral dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) compared to the HC group. Within the TRD and non-TRD groups, VFT performance was no significant difference, but activation of oxy-Hb changes in dorsomedial PFC (DMPFC) in TRD patients was significantly lower than non-TRD patients. In addition, activation of oxy-Hb changes in right DLPFC were negatively correlated with the severity of depressive symptoms in depression patients.
Conclusion:
Both TRD patients and non-TRD patients exhibited lower oxy-Hb activation in DLPFC. TRD patients exhibit lower oxy- Hb activation in DMPFC than non-TRD patients. fNIRS maybe a useful tool for predict depressive patients with or without treatment resistant.
