Network-level dynamics underlying a combined rTMS and psychotherapy treatment for major depressive disorder: An exploratory network analysis

Simon W Davis; Lysianne Beynel; Andrada D Neacsiu; Bruce M Luber; Elisabeth Bernhardt; Sarah H Lisanby; Timothy J Strauman

doi:10.1016/j.ijchp.2023.100382

Network-level dynamics underlying a combined rTMS and psychotherapy treatment for major depressive disorder: An exploratory network analysis

Int J Clin Health Psychol. 2023 Oct-Dec;23(4):100382. doi: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2023.100382. Epub 2023 Mar 4.

Authors

Simon W Davis¹, Lysianne Beynel², Andrada D Neacsiu³, Bruce M Luber², Elisabeth Bernhardt³, Sarah H Lisanby², Timothy J Strauman^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
² National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
³ Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
⁴ Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.

Abstract

Background: Despite the growing use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as a treatment for depression, there is a limited understanding of the mechanisms of action and how potential treatment-related brain changes help to characterize treatment response. To address this gap in understanding we investigated the effects of an approach combining rTMS with simultaneous psychotherapy on global functional connectivity.

Method: We compared task-related functional connectomes based on an idiographic goal priming task tied to emotional regulation acquired before and after simultaneous rTMS/psychotherapy treatment for patients with major depressive disorders and compared these changes to normative connectivity patterns from a set of healthy volunteers (HV) performing the same task.

Results: At baseline, compared to HVs, patients demonstrated hyperconnectivity of the DMN, cerebellum and limbic system, and hypoconnectivity of the fronto-parietal dorsal-attention network and visual cortex. Simultaneous rTMS/psychotherapy helped to normalize these differences, which were reduced after treatment. This finding suggests that the rTMS/therapy treatment regularizes connectivity patterns in both hyperactive and hypoactive brain networks.

Conclusions: These results help to link treatment to a comprehensive model of the neurocircuitry underlying depression and pave the way for future studies using network-guided principles to significantly improve rTMS efficacy for depression.

Keywords: Depression; Functional connectivity; Self-system therapy; rTMS.