Professor Robert Chen
Editor-in-Chief, Clinical Neurophysiology
Xinyi Wang, Li Xue, Junneng Shao, Zhongpeng Dai, Lingling Hua, Rui Yan, Zhijian Yao, Qing Lu
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a highly prevalent condition with enormous impact on society. Antidepressants are considered the first line treatment, but the therapeutic responses are variable. The ability to predict the treatment response will provide valuable information to guide treatment decisions. In this volume of Clinical Neurophysiology, Wang et al. used structural and functional connectivity measured by MRI to predict responses to six weeks of antidepressant treatment in a relatively large cohort (n=210) of MDD patients. The authors found that both structural and functional connectomes independently predicted the treatment response, and a combination of these two connectomes provide even better prediction. The findings provide valuable insights into the neurophysiology of depression treatment. In future studies, similar approaches can be used to predict the response to neuromodulation, such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment of depression.