Tracking functional brain changes in patients with depression under psychodynamic psychotherapy using individualized stimuli (original) (raw)
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EPA-0142 – Neural changes in depressed patients during psychodynamic psychotherapy: An fMRI Study
European Psychiatry, 2014
Neuroimaging studies of depression have demonstrated treatment-specific changes involving the limbic system and regulatory regions in the prefrontal cortex. While these studies have examined the effect of short-term, interpersonal or cognitive-behavioural psychotherapy, the effect of long-term, psychodynamic intervention has never been assessed. Here, we investigated recurrently depressed (DSM-IV) unmedicated outpatients (N=16) and control participants matched for sex, age, and education (N=17) before and after 15 months of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Participants were scanned at two time points, during which presentations of attachment-related scenes with neutral descriptions alternated with descriptions containing personal core sentences previously extracted from an attachment interview. Outcome measure was the interaction of the signal difference between personal and neutral presentations with group and time, and its association with symptom improvement during therapy. Signal associated with processing personalized attachment material varied in patients from baseline to endpoint, but not in healthy controls. Patients showed a higher activation in the left anterior hippocampus/amygdala, subgenual cingulate, and medial prefrontal cortex before treatment and a reduction in these areas after 15 months. This reduction was associated with improvement in depressiveness specifically, and in the medial prefrontal cortex with symptom improvement more generally. This is the first study documenting neurobiological changes in circuits implicated in emotional reactivity and control after long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy.
Psychology, 2012
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a syndrome, which is quite frequent in the society, can be recurrent and shows symptoms of emotional, cognitive and behavioral disorder. Brain imaging studies support that patients diagnosed with MDD suffer dysfunction in limbic structures such as frontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus and cingulate cortex and basal ganglions that regulate these functions. Psychotherapy is an effective treatment option for prevention of recurrent depressive attacks as well as for acute treatment of depression. It is thought that psychotherapy shows its effect by focusing on misleading cognitions and emotional information processing processes that lead to rise and persistence of symptoms of depression, which in turn boosts problem solving and coping skills. Neurobiological reflections of clinical recovery achieved by psychotherapy are not yet well known. In this study, it is aimed to review cognitive behavioral psychotherapy (CBT), interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) and psychodynamic psychotherapy methods used frequently in treatment of MDD, along with functional brain imaging studies performed on treated depressive patients. Studies show that CBT lead to changes in the prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex and amygdala metabolisms and activities. Activity of the subgenual cingulate cortex, which takes part in the regulation of the limbic activity, seems to play an important role in the response to CBT like in the response to antidepressant treatment. It was found that interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) ensures recovery of metabolism and blood flow in the prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex and basal ganglions. It was observed that psychodynamic therapy ensured recovery of abnormal activities in especially the prefrontal cortex and cingulate cortex in MDD, similar to the CBT and IPT. There is need for more long-term, follow-up studies in this area.
Changes in Prefrontal-Limbic Function in Major Depression after 15 Months of Long-Term Psychotherapy
Neuroimaging studies of depression have demonstrated treatment-specific changes involving the limbic system and regulatory regions in the prefrontal cortex. While these studies have examined the effect of short-term, interpersonal or cognitive-behavioural psychotherapy, the effect of long-term, psychodynamic intervention has never been assessed. Here, we investigated recurrently depressed (DSM-IV) unmedicated outpatients (N = 16) and control participants matched for sex, age, and education (N = 17) before and after 15 months of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Participants were scanned at two time points, during which presentations of attachment-related scenes with neutral descriptions alternated with descriptions containing personal core sentences previously extracted from an attachment interview. Outcome measure was the interaction of the signal difference between personal and neutral presentations with group and time, and its association with symptom improvement during therapy. Signal associated with processing personalized attachment material varied in patients from baseline to endpoint, but not in healthy controls. Patients showed a higher activation in the left anterior hippocampus/amygdala, subgenual cingulate, and medial prefrontal cortex before treatment and a reduction in these areas after 15 months. This reduction was associated with improvement in depressiveness specifically, and in the medial prefrontal cortex with symptom improvement more generally. This is the first study documenting neurobiological changes in circuits implicated in emotional reactivity and control after long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy.
Neural predictors of successful brief psychodynamic psychotherapy for persistent depression
Psychotherapy and psychosomatics, 2014
Psychodynamic psychotherapy has been used to treat depression for more than a century. However, not all patients respond equally well, and there are few reliable predictors of treatment outcome. We used resting (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ((18)FDG-PET) scans immediately before and after a structured, open trial of brief psychodynamic psychotherapy (n = 16) in conjunction with therapy process ratings and clinical outcome measures to identify neural correlates of treatment response. Pretreatment glucose metabolism within the right posterior insula correlated with depression severity. Reductions in depression scores correlated with a pre- to posttreatment reduction in right insular metabolism, which in turn correlated with higher objective measures of patient insight obtained from videotaped therapy sessions. Pretreatment metabolism in the right precuneus was significantly higher in patients who completed treatment and correlated with psychological mindedness....
2012
MRI also has shown great promise to help understand potential mechanisms of action of effective treatments for a range of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, including mood and anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and autism. However, the use of fMRI to probe intervention effects in psychiatry is associated with unique methodological considerations, including the psychometric properties of repeated fMRI scans, how to assess potential relations between the effects of an intervention on symptoms and on specific brain activation patterns, and how to best make causal inferences about intervention effects on brain function. Additionally, the study of treatment effects in neurodevelopmental disorders presents additional unique challenges related to brain maturation, analysis methods, and the potential for motion artifacts. We review these methodological considerations and provide recommendations for best practices for each of these topics.
Functional neuroimaging: points of intersection between biology and psychotherapy
La Clinica terapeutica, 2012
In the evaluation of the biological basis of psychotherapeutic changes many researches have noticed potential effects of psychotherapeutic interventions on the neural correlates of mental illness. In a psychotherapeutic setting, modifications in individual thoughts and feelings can restore brain functioning at physiological levels. This paper gives an overview about neurobiological methods and their potential to support psychotherapy research and to examine psychotherapy effects across a number of psychiatric disorders. Relevant informations are identified through searches of MEDLINE and Current Contents/Clinical Medicine. Studies demonstrate that it is important to consider putative neural mechanisms of psychotherapy, changes in the brain associated with psychotherapy on a global and molecular level, intervention-specific effects and prediction of outcome. Pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy converge in a common change of neuronal functions that might be detected by imaging technique...
Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 2018
Longitudinal neuroimaging studies in major depression have revealed cortico-limbic abnormalities which are modulated by treatment. We performed a systematic review and metaanalysis of psychotherapy treatment studies measuring neural function and metabolism using fMRI, PET, SPECT and MRS. Seventeen studies were included in the systematic review, total of 200 major depression participants (mean age 37.6 years), all medication free, and 116 healthy controls (mean age 36.4 years). Neuroimaging assessments were performed prior to initiation of treatment and following course of treatment. Treatment durations were: 16-30 weeks for CBT, 11 weeks for behavioral activation therapy, and up to 15 months for psychodynamic psychotherapy. The meta-analysis consisted of studies in which both groups had same serial scans and comparable tasks; total of 5 studies with visual presentation tasks of emotional stimuli: 55 patients (mean age: 38.7 years) and 55 healthy controls (mean age: 36.3 years). The meta-analysis revealed a significant group by time effect in left rostral anterior cingulate, in which patients showed increased activity following psychotherapy while healthy controls showed a decrease at follow up. Longitudinal treatment effects revealed reduced left precentral cortical activity in major depression. Findings could be indicative of improvements in emotion responsivity that may be achieved following psychotherapy.
Neuroimaging and the functional neuroanatomy of psychotherapy
Psychological Medicine, 2005
Background. Studies measuring the effects of psychotherapy on brain function are under-represented relative to analogous studies of medications, possibly reflecting historical biases. However, psychological constructs relevant to several modalities of psychotherapy have demonstrable neurobiological correlates, as indicated by functional neuroimaging studies in healthy subjects. This review examines initial attempts to measure directly the effects of psychotherapy on brain function in patients with depression or anxiety disorders.
Archives of general psychiatry, 2004
Functional imaging studies of major depressive disorder demonstrate response-specific regional changes following various modes of antidepressant treatment. To examine changes associated with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Brain changes underlying response to CBT were examined using resting-state fluorine-18-labeled deoxyglucose positron emission tomography. Seventeen unmedicated, unipolar depressed outpatients (mean +/- SD age, 41 +/- 9 years; mean +/- SD initial 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score, 20 +/- 3) were scanned before and after a 15- to 20-session course of outpatient CBT. Whole-brain, voxel-based methods were used to assess response-specific CBT effects. A post hoc comparison to an independent group of 13 paroxetine-treated responders was also performed to interpret the specificity of identified CBT effects. A full course of CBT resulted in significant clinical improvement in the 14 study completers (mean +/- SD posttreatment Hamilton Depression Rating Scal...