A Treatment-Response Comparison Study of Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Between Standard Treatment of SSRI and Standard Treatment of SSRI Plus Non-dominant Hand-Writing Task in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

Abstract

Background: Researches have recently shifted from functional/structural imaging studies to functional connectivity (FC) studies in major depressive disorder (MDD). We aimed to compare treatment response of two treatment groups before and after treatment, in terms of both with psychiatric evaluation scales and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) changes in order to objectively demonstrate the possible contribution of the non-dominant hand-writing exercise (NHE) effect on depression treatment.Methods: A total of 26 patients who were right-handed women with similar sociodemographic characteristics were enrolled. Their pre-treatment resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and neuropsychiatric tests were recorded, and then, patients were divided into two groups randomly. A standard treatment (ST) (fix sertraline 50 mg/day) was given to both groups. One randomly selected group was given the NHE in addition to the ST. After 8 weeks of treatment, all patients were reevaluated with rs-fMRI and neuropsychiatric tests. Pre- and post-treatment FC changes within the groups and post-treatment connectivity changes between groups were evaluated.Results: Post-treatment neuropsychiatric tests were significantly different in both groups. Post-treatment, two brain regions' connectivity changed in the ST group, whereas 10 brain regions' connectivity changed significantly in the ST + NHE group. When treatment groups were compared with each other after the treatment, the FC of 13 regions changed in the ST + NHE group compared to the ST group (p-unc/p-PFD <0.05). The density of connectivity changes in the frontal and limbic regions, especially connectivities shown to change in depression treatment, in the ST + NHE group indicates a positive contribution to depression treatment, which is also supported by neuropsychiatric scale changes.Conclusion: NHE, which we developed with inspiration from the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) method, showed significantly more connecitivity changes related with MDD treatment. Beyond offering a new additional treatment method, our study will also contribute to the current literature with our efforts to evaluate all brain regions and networks that may be related to MDD and its treatment together, without being limited to a few regions.Trial Registration: The rs-fMRI and treatment registers were recorded in the BizMed system, which is the patient registration system of Bezmialem Vakif University Medicine Faculty, under the BAP support project approval code and the registration number 3.2018/8.

Neural activity in adults with major depressive disorder differs from that in healthy individuals: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

“…Moreover, in accordance with previous findings ( 26 , 45 – 47 ), the present study reported that patients with MDD showed abnormal neural activity in brain regions within the default mode network. These regions—the thalamus, precuneus, and parahippocampus—are important components in the default mode network ( 48 ). The thalamus, as a hub connecting the cortex and subcortical regions, is thought to be the transformation center for all neural signals from bodily sensations projected to the cerebral cortex ( 49 ).…”

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) para la depression: revision sistemática

“…Esto se puede constatar con el estudio realizado en la Universidad de Bezmialem VAKIF en Turquía (Boyraz et al, 2021), este estudio tuvo una población de 26 mujeres con características sociodemográficas similares con sintomatología de depresión mayor, las cuales fueron divididas en dos subgrupos de forma aleatoria de 13 participantes cada uno teniendo como objetivo comparar la respuesta del tratamiento. Las pruebas neuropsiquiatras posterior al tratamiento dieron resultados significativos diferentes en ambos grupos, evidenciando de manera objetiva la contribución positiva de la técnica EMDR en el tratamiento de la depresión en el grupo seleccionado, aunque ambos grupos mantuvieron un tratamiento médico estándar.…”