title: A quick behavioral dichotic word test is prognostic for clinical response to cognitive therapy for depression: A replication study.
abstract: There are no commonly used clinical indicators of whether an individual will benefit from cognitive therapy (CT) for depression. A prior study found right ear (left hemisphere) advantage for perceiving dichotic words predicted CT response. This study replicates this finding at a different research center in clinical trials that included clinically representative samples and community therapists. Right-handed individuals with unipolar major depressive disorder who subsequently received 12-14 weeks of CT at the University of Pittsburgh were tested on dichotic fused words and complex tones tests. Responders to CT showed twice the mean right ear advantage in dichotic fused words performance than non-responders. Patients with a right ear advantage greater than the mean for healthy controls had an 81% response rate to CT, whereas those with performance lower than the mean for controls had a 46% response rate. Individuals with a right ear advantage, indicative of strong left hemisphere language dominance, may be better at utilizing cognitive processes and left frontotemporal cortical regions critical for success of CT for depression. Findings at two clinical research centers suggest that verbal dichotic listening may be a clinically disseminative brief, inexpensive and easily automated test prognostic for response to CT across diverse clinical settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, NY, USA; Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: bruderg@nyspi.columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Gerard E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Bruder
authors.affiliation: Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Electronic address: aeh92@med.miami.edu.
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haggerty
authors.affiliation: Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Electronic address: gsiegle@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Greg J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Siegle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000628:therapy*; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011379:Prognosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cognitive therapy; Depression; Dichotic listening; Laterality; Treatment response