Longitudinal resting-state network connectivity changes in electroconvulsive therapy patients compared to healthy controls

Joey P A J Verdijk; Laurens A van de Mortel; Freek Ten Doesschate; Julia C M Pottkämper; Sven Stuiver; Willem B Bruin; Christopher C Abbott; Miklos Argyelan; Olga T Ousdal; Hauke Bartsch; Katherine Narr; Indira Tendolkar; Vince Calhoun; Joshua Lukemire; Ying Guo; Leif Oltedal; Guido van Wingen; Jeroen A van Waarde

doi:10.1016/j.brs.2023.12.005

Longitudinal resting-state network connectivity changes in electroconvulsive therapy patients compared to healthy controls

Brain Stimul. 2024 Jan-Feb;17(1):140-147. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2023.12.005. Epub 2023 Dec 13.

Authors

Joey P A J Verdijk¹, Laurens A van de Mortel², Freek Ten Doesschate³, Julia C M Pottkämper⁴, Sven Stuiver⁴, Willem B Bruin², Christopher C Abbott⁵, Miklos Argyelan⁶, Olga T Ousdal⁷, Hauke Bartsch⁸, Katherine Narr⁹, Indira Tendolkar¹⁰, Vince Calhoun¹¹, Joshua Lukemire¹², Ying Guo¹², Leif Oltedal¹³, Guido van Wingen², Jeroen A van Waarde¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Rijnstate Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, P.O. Box 9555, 6800 TA Arnhem, the Netherlands; University of Twente, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Enschede, the Netherlands. Electronic address: jverdijk@rijnstate.nl.
² Amsterdam UMC location University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
³ Rijnstate Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, P.O. Box 9555, 6800 TA Arnhem, the Netherlands; Amsterdam UMC location University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
⁴ Rijnstate Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, P.O. Box 9555, 6800 TA Arnhem, the Netherlands; University of Twente, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Enschede, the Netherlands.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
⁶ Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, New York, NY, USA.
⁷ Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Department of Radiology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
⁸ Department of Computer Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualization Center, Department of Radiology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
⁹ Departments of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁰ Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Department of Psychiatry, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
¹¹ Tri-institutional center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS) Center, Emory University, USA.
¹² Emory Center for Biomedical Imaging Statistics, Emory University, USA.
¹³ Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualization Center, Department of Radiology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
¹⁴ Rijnstate Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, P.O. Box 9555, 6800 TA Arnhem, the Netherlands.

PMID: 38101469
DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2023.12.005

Abstract

Objective: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective for major depressive episodes. Understanding of underlying mechanisms has been increased by examining changes of brain connectivity but studies often do not correct for test-retest variability in healthy controls (HC). In this study, we investigated changes in resting-state networks after ECT in a multicenter study.

Methods: Functional resting-state magnetic resonance imaging data, acquired before start and within one week after ECT, from 90 depressed patients were analyzed, as well as longitudinal data of 24 HC. Group-information guided independent component analysis (GIG-ICA) was used to spatially restrict decomposition to twelve canonical resting-state networks. Selected networks of interest were the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and left and right frontoparietal network (LFPN, and RFPN). Whole-brain voxel-wise analyses were used to assess group differences at baseline, group by time interactions, and correlations with treatment effectiveness. In addition, between-network connectivity and within-network strengths were computed.

Results: Within-network strength of the DMN was lower at baseline in ECT patients which increased after ECT compared to HC, after which no differences were detected. At baseline, ECT patients showed lower whole-brain voxel-wise DMN connectivity in the precuneus. Increase of within-network strength of the LFPN was correlated with treatment effectiveness. We did not find whole-brain voxel-wise or between-network changes.

Conclusion: DMN within-network connectivity normalized after ECT. Within-network increase of the LFPN in ECT patients was correlated with higher treatment effectiveness. In contrast to earlier studies, we found no whole-brain voxel-wise changes, which highlights the necessity to account for test-retest effects.

Keywords: BOLD imaging; Functional networks; Major depressive disorder.

Publication types

Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

Brain / diagnostic imaging
Brain Mapping
Depressive Disorder, Major* / therapy
Electroconvulsive Therapy* / methods
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
Parietal Lobe