Gray Matter Volume Associated with Clinical Outcome in Geriatric Depression: Small Study from Japan
Out on PubMed, from researchers in Japan, is this study: Association of electroconvulsive therapy-induced structural plasticity with clinical remission. Takamiya A, Kishimoto T, Hirano J, Kikuchi T, Yamagata B, Mimura M. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2021 Feb 20:110286. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2021.110286. Online ahead of print. PMID: 33621611 The abstract is copied below: Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most effective treatment for severe depression. Recent neuroimaging studies have consistently reported that ECT induces volume increases in widely distributed brain regions. However, it still remains unclear about ECT-induced volume changes associated with clinical improvement. Methods: Longitudinal assessments of structural magnetic resonance imaging were conducted in 48 participants. Twenty-seven elderly melancholic depressed individuals (mean 67.5 ± 8.1 years old; 19 female) were scanned before (TP1) and after (TP2) ECT. Twenty-one healthy controls we