Electroconvulsive Therapy Regulates the Interhemispheric Functional Connectivity of the Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex in Depressive Patients: Evidence from 2 Independent Samples.

Background: The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) is considered a crucial node in emotional and cognitive processes. Voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) is a validated methodology for investigating interhemispheric coordination. This study aims to elucidate the effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on the interhemispheric connectivity of the dmPFC in patients with depression, using VMHC as a measure of bilateral neural coordination.

Electroconvulsive therapy changes temporal dynamics of intrinsic brain activity in depressed patients.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been demonstrated to be effective in treating depressed patients. Previous neuroimaging studies have focused mainly on alterations in static brain activity and connectivity to study the effects of ECT in depressed patients. However, it remains unclear whether the temporal dynamics of brain activity are associated with mechanisms of ECT in depressed patients.

Nodal degree changes induced by electroconvulsive therapy in major depressive disorder: Evidence in two independent cohorts.

Objective: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a rapidly acting treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), has been reported to regulate brain networks. Nodes and their connections are the main components of the brain network and are essential for establishing and maintaining effective information transmission. This study aimed to evaluate the role of nodes in mediating antidepressant effects of ECT.

Functional and structural alterations in the pain-related circuit in major depressive disorder induced by electroconvulsive therapy.

Approximately two-thirds of major depressive disorder (MDD) patients have pain, which exacerbates the severity of depression. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an efficacious treatment that can alleviate depressive symptoms; however, treatment for pain and the underlying neural substrate is elusive. We enrolled 34 patients with MDD and 33 matched healthy controls to complete clinical assessments and neuroimaging scans.

Impaired neurovascular coupling and cognitive deficits in anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis.

Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis is a recently identified autoimmune disorder with heterogeneous neurological, psychiatric, and cognitive manifestations. The NMDAR is a key signaling node for neurovascular coupling, the mechanism by which cerebral blood perfusion is enhanced to meet local metabolic requirements from increased neuronal activity. Therefore, anti-NMDAR encephalitis may disrupt neurovascular coupling and induce cognitive deficits.

Altered neural activity in the reward-related circuit and executive control network associated with amelioration of anhedonia in major depressive disorder by electroconvulsive therapy.

Anhedonia is a core characteristic of depression, the amelioration of which accounts for depressive symptom improvement. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been shown remarkable antidepressive effect, however, less is known about the effect of ECT on anhedonia and its underlying neural mechanism. Herein, we investigated local and global intrinsic brain functional alterations during the resting state in 46 patients with pre- and post-ECT major depressive disorder using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and degree centrality (DC) approach.

Bifrontal electroconvulsive therapy changed regional homogeneity and functional connectivity of left angular gyrus in major depressive disorder.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a rapid and effective treatment for MDD. However, the mechanism of ECT for MDD has not been clarified. In this study, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to explore the mechanism of ECT.

Abnormal connectivity of anterior-insular subdivisions and relationship with somatic symptom in depressive patients.

Depressive patients frequently present with somatic complaints such as pain and fatigue. The anterior insula (AI) is a crucial region for somatic processing, but reported contributions of AI dysfunction to somatic symptoms have varied across studies. We speculated that functional heterogeneity among AI subdivisions may contribute to this inconsistency.