Evidence for neuroplastic compensation in the cerebral cortex of persons with depressive illness.

ABSTRACT: We yoked anatomical brain magnetic resonance imaging to a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (RCT) of antidepressant medication for 10-week's duration in patients with dysthymia. The RCT study design mitigated ascertainment bias by randomizing patients to receive either duloxetine or placebo, and it supported true causal inferences about treatment effects on the brain by controlling treatment assignment experimentally. We acquired 121 anatomical scans: at baseline and end point in 41 patients and once in 39 healthy controls. At baseline, patients had diffusely thicker cortices than did healthy participants, and patients who had thicker cortices had proportionately less severe symptoms. During the trial, symptoms improved significantly more in medication-compared with placeb

SUBMITTER: Bansal R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5589468 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature