Prefrontal resting-state connectivity and antidepressant response: no associations in the ELECT-TDCS trial.

Functional and structural MRI of prefrontal cortex (PFC) may provide putative biomarkers for predicting the treatment response to transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in depression. A recent MRI study from ELECT-TDCS (Escitalopram versus Electrical Direct-Current Theror Depression Study) showed that depression improvement after tDCS was associated with gray matter volumes of PFC subregions. Based thereon, we investigated whether antidepressant effects of tDCS are similarly associated with baseline resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC).

Antidepressant effects of tDCS are associated with prefrontal gray matter volumes at baseline: Evidence from the ELECT-TDCS trial.

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising intervention for major depression. However, its clinical effects are heterogeneous. We investigated, in a subsample of the randomized, clinical trial Escitalopram versus Electrical Direct Current Therapy for Depression Study (ELECT-TDCS), whether the volumes of left and right prefrontal cortex (PFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were associated with prefrontal tDCS response.

The Escitalopram versus Electric Current Therapy for Treating Depression Clinical Study (ELECT-TDCS): rationale and study design of a non-inferiority, triple-arm, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Context And Objective: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common psychiatric condition, mostly treated with antidepressant drugs, which are limited due to refractoriness and adverse effects. We describe the study rationale and design of ELECT-TDCS (Escitalopram versus Electric Current Therapy for Treating Depression Clinical Study), which is investigating a non-pharmacological treatment known as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

Design And Setting: Phase-III, randomized, non-inferiority, triple-arm, placebo-controlled study, ongoing in São Paulo, Brazil.