Neural predictors of successful brief psychodynamic psychotherapy for persistent depression.

Background: Psychodynamic psychotherapy has been used to treat depression for more than a century. However, not all patients respond equally well, and there are few reliable predictors of treatment outcome.

Methods: We used resting (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ((18)FDG-PET) scans immediately before and after a structured, open trial of brief psychodynamic psychotherapy (n = 16) in conjunction with therapy process ratings and clinical outcome measures to identify neural correlates of treatment response.