Altered functional brain activity in first-episode major depressive disorder treated with electro-acupuncture: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Background: Previous studies have found electroacupuncture could improve the clinical symptoms of first-episode major depressive disorder (MDD), but the exact neural mechanism of action needs to be further elucidated.

Methods: Twenty-eight first-episode MDD patients were randomly divided into 14 electro-acupuncture stimulation (EAS) groups and 14 sham-acupuncture stimulation (SAS) groups, and clinical symptoms were assessed and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were done in both groups. Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) was used to observe the changes between the pre-treatment and post-treatment in the two groups, and the altered brain areas were selected as region of interest (ROI) to observe the FC changes.

[Effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on functional connectivity in the related brain regions of patients with depression based on the resting-state fMRI].

Objective: To explore the brain effect mechanism and the correlation between brain functional imaging and cognitive function in treatment of depressive disorder (DD) with transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) based on the resting-state functional magenetic reasonance imaging (rs-fMRI).

Methods: Thirty-two DD patients were included in a depression group and 32 subjects of healthy condition were enrolled in a normal group. In the depression group, the taVNS was applied to bilateral Xin (CO) and Shen (CO), at disperse-dense wave, 4 Hz/20 Hz in frequency and current intensity ≤20 mA depending on patient's tolerance, 30 min each time, twice daily.

A Comparative Study of Regional Homogeneity of Resting-State fMRI Between the Early-Onset and Late-Onset Recurrent Depression in Adults.

Background: Neurobiological mechanisms underlying the recurrence of major depressive disorder (MDD) at different ages are unclear, and this study used the regional homogeneity (ReHo) index to compare whether there are differences between early onset recurrent depression (EORD) and late onset recurrent depression (LORD).

Methods: Eighteen EORD patients, 18 LORD patients, 18 young healthy controls (HCs), and 18 older HCs were included in the rs-fMRI scans. ReHo observational metrics were used for image analysis and further correlation of differential brain regions with clinical symptoms was analyzed.

[Functional MRI-based study on neuromechanism of trans-auricular vagus nerve stimulation for treatment-resistant depression].

Objective: To explore the neuromechanism of trans-auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) for treatment-resistant depression(TRD) based on functional brain network.

Methods: Twenty-eight patients with TRD were recruited from the psychiatric clinic or by the advertisement. The patients were treated by taVNS (5 Hz/20 Hz, 4-8 mA) at the auricular concha for 30 min, twice daily for 8 weeks.