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ABSTRACT: Objective
Low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) has emerged as a promising non-invasive brain stimulation modality with high spatial selectivity and the ability to reach deep brain areas. The present study aimed to investigate the safety and effectiveness of low-intensity tFUS in treating major depressive disorder.Methods
Participants were recruited in an outpatient clinic and randomly assigned to either the verum tFUS or sham stimulation group. The intervention group received six sessions of tFUS stimulation to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex over two weeks. Neuropsychological assessments were conducted before and after the sessions. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) was also performed to evaluate changes in functional connectivity (FC). The primary outcome measure was the change in depressive symptoms, assessed with the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS).Results
The tFUS stimulation sessions were well tolerated without any undesirable side effects. The analysis revealed a significant main effect of session sequence on the MADRS scores and significant interactions between the session sequences and groups. The rsfMRI analysis showed a higher FC correlation between the right superior part of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) and several other brain regions in the verum group compared with the sham group.Conclusion
Our results reveal that tFUS stimulation clinically improved MADRS scores with network-level modulation of a sgACC subregion. This randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial, the first study of its kind, demonstrated the safety and probable efficacy of tFUS stimulation for the treatment of depression.
SUBMITTER: Oh J
PROVIDER: S-EPMC11321877 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Oh Jooyoung J Ryu Jin Sun JS Kim Junhyung J Kim Soojeong S Jeong Hyu Seok HS Kim Kyung Ran KR Kim Hyun-Chul HC Yoo Seung-Schik SS Seok Jeong-Ho JH
Psychiatry investigation 20240808 8
<h4>Objective</h4>Low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) has emerged as a promising non-invasive brain stimulation modality with high spatial selectivity and the ability to reach deep brain areas. The present study aimed to investigate the safety and effectiveness of low-intensity tFUS in treating major depressive disorder.<h4>Methods</h4>Participants were recruited in an outpatient clinic and randomly assigned to either the verum tFUS or sham stimulation group. The intervention gr ...[more]