Effects of electroconvulsive therapy on frontal white matter in late-life depression: a diffusion tensor imaging study.
This study was conducted to elucidate the effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on frontal white matter in late-life depressed patients. Diffusion tensor imaging was performed on 8 late-life depressed patients and 12 healthy age-matched controls. The patients were scanned before and after a course of ECT. Fractional anisotropy (FA) was determined in the frontal and temporal regions and the corpus callosum. A significant white matter FA reduction was found in widespread frontal and temporal brain regions in patients with depression before ECT treatment compared with controls. A significant increase in frontal white matter FA was seen following ECT treatment. A course of bilateral ECT ameliorated white matter integrity in frontal brain regions. This suggests a strong relationship with the antidepressant action of ECT.
Nobuhara
K
K
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kansai Medical University, Moriguchi City, Japan. nobuhara@takii.kmu.ac.jp
Okugawa
G
G
Minami
T
T
Takase
K
K
Yoshida
T
T
Yagyu
T
T
Tajika
A
A
Sugimoto
T
T
Tamagaki
C
C
Ikeda
K
K
Sawada
S
S
Kinoshita
T
T
D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D016880:Anisotropy; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000502:physiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome