title: Effects of electroconvulsive therapy on frontal white matter in late-life depression: a diffusion tensor imaging study.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kansai Medical University, Moriguchi City, Japan. nobuhara@takii.kmu.ac.jp
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nobuhara
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Okugawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takase
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yagyu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tajika
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tamagaki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sawada
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
mesh_terms: 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