Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Treating Depression: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Major Depressive Disorder Clinical Trial

Official title: Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder: A Functional Connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fcMRI) Study

Status Terminated

Clinical Trial Summary

This protocol, "Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD): A Functional Connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fcMRI) Study," is an open-label pilot treatment study. The purpose of the present protocol is to treat participants with a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder with 4 weeks of rTMS, performing fcMRI and EEG studies prior to and following treatment to determine if treatment response is related to changes in fcMRI and/or EEG results. The investigators hypothesize that patients who respond to treatment will display changes in functional connectivity patterns thought to be related to the occurrence of depressive symptoms.

Clinical Trial Description

Depression is accompanied by rumination that supports inwardly focused cognitive attention on negative events and emotions. There is evidence to indicate that one aspect of this ruminative behavior lies in an abnormal increase in intra-regional connectivity among elements of the default mode network (DMN). It is also widely recognized that depression is associated with disturbances of cognition that include deficits in attentional processing, including both reductions in processing speed and deficits in selective attentional processing that are considered a part of executive function. Thus, there is at least equal reason to believe that attention and executive control networks might show changes in intra-regional functional connectivity. Given the attentional deficits associated with MDD, we hypothesize that there will be a weakening of intra-network resting state BOLD functional connectivity (rs-fcMRI) in addition to the strengthened connectivity reported by others.Further, we suggest that these shifts in intra-regional connectivity extend to the well-recognized anti-correlated activity between these two networks and support the intrusion of introspective, ruminative thought on cognitive activities that require externally directed attention. To test this hypothesis, we will use fMRI resting state functional connectivity to examine shifts in network connectivity prior to and following rTMS treatment for depression. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Depression
• Depressive Disorder
• Depressive Disorder, Major
• Major Depressive Disorder

• NCT number: NCT01162382
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Washington University School of Medicine
• Status: Terminated
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: January 2010
• Completion date: September 2013