Posted by pseudoname on April 4, 2006, at 12:36:23
In reply to Re: deep brain stimulation in N.Y.Times, posted by honeybee on April 4, 2006, at 8:56:57
This article is from 2 years ago, when the study just reported had just begun, but it tells a little more about the “network theory” and how Area 25 may fit in.
http://www.neuropsychiatryreviews.com/may04/npr_may04_pathway.html (NeuroPsychiatry Reviews, May 2004, vol 5(3))
Despite other studies showing similar brain response from both psychotherapy and drugs, this article says there are *different* responses in depressed brains that respond to CBT and those that respond to medication. “These treatment findings stress the complex interactions of a distributed set of both limbic and cortical brain regions [in depression],” suggesting there's a network of brain sites involved that respond differently in different people.
-snip-
A last set of studies was presented to emphasize this point, using a Structural Equation modeling and path analysis to look for predictive markers in scans taken prior to treatment that might differentiate patients who went on to do well on cognitive therapy from those who did well on paroxetine and those who benefited from neither approach. In the first group [CBT responders], the state of the network reflected the cross-talk among the orbital frontal, medial frontal, and cingulate regions, Dr. Mayberg explained. “In contrast, the paroxetine group model was uninfluenced by activity in the medial frontal and orbital frontal regions,” she said. “The state of the brain in these patients was dependent on variation in the hippocampus, area 25, and lateral prefrontal regions. If we look at the patients who were medication nonresponders, the network state was distinct from the other groups, with an emphasis on inputs to area 25 without modulation by cortex.
-snip-> Isn't this already available? Doesn't rTMS do that very thing?
Hi, honeybee. Other than the study that found first-week changes in depressed brains that would respond to Prozac (which I hadn't realized was also by Mayberg) and Daniel Amen's clinic reports (which I *think* have not been replicated by other researchers – anybody know?), I don't know of *any* tests that divide depressed people into different treatment categories in general use.
Also, rTMS targets the cortex, not the deep brain.
poster:pseudoname
thread:627817
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060403/msgs/628676.html