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Published on: November 13, 2016
Longitudinal resting-state network connectivity changes in electroconvulsive therapy patients compared to healthy
Joey P A J Verdijk1, Laurens A van de Mortel2, Freek Ten Doesschate3
1Rijnstate Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, P.O. Box 9555, 6800 TA Arnhem, the Netherlands; University of Twente, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Enschede, the Netherlands.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) normalized default mode network connectivity in major depressive episodes. Increased frontoparietal network strength correlated with treatment effectiveness, highlighting the need to account for test-retest variability.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a recognized treatment for major depressive episodes.
- Understanding ECT's mechanisms is advanced by studying brain connectivity changes.
- Previous studies often overlooked test-retest variability in healthy controls.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate resting-state network alterations following ECT in a multicenter study.
- To examine changes in the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and frontoparietal networks (LFPN, RFPN).
- To assess the impact of test-retest variability on findings.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed resting-state fMRI data from 90 depressed patients and 24 healthy controls (HC) before and after ECT.
- Employed Group-Information Guided Independent Component Analysis (GIG-ICA) for network decomposition.
- Conducted whole-brain voxel-wise analyses and computed between- and within-network connectivity.
Main Results:
- ECT normalized lower baseline DMN within-network strength in patients compared to HC.
- Increased LFPN within-network strength correlated with treatment effectiveness.
- No significant whole-brain voxel-wise or between-network changes were observed.
Conclusions:
- ECT normalizes DMN within-network connectivity in patients with major depressive episodes.
- LFPN within-network connectivity increase is linked to improved treatment outcomes.
- Accounting for test-retest effects is crucial, as whole-brain voxel-wise changes were not detected.
