Previously thought to be rigid adult brain structures, they changed after treatment

"This means that the brain structure of patients with clinical major depression is not as fixed as we thought, and we can improve the brain structure
in a short period of time, about 6 weeks or so.
" We found that if this treatment increases brain connectivity, it is also effective in addressing symptoms of
depression.
This gives hope to patients who think nothing can be changed and who have to live with the disease forever because it is 'fixed'
in their brains.
Dr.
Ruhe was not involved in the study
.

Scientists believe that adult brain structures are often rigid and cannot change quickly; Now new research suggests that this is not the case
.
German researchers have demonstrated that hospitalization for depression increases brain connectivity, with those who respond well to this treatment showing a greater increase
in connectivity than those who do not.

Lead researcher Professor Jonathan Repple presented the study at the meeting of the European Academy of Neuropsychopharmacology in Vienna:

Researchers at the University of Münster in Germany studied 109 people with major depressive disorder (major depressive disorder) and compared
them to 55 healthy controls.
Their brains were scanned by an MRI scanner that was used to determine which parts of the brain communicated with other parts, determining the level of
connectivity within the brain.
These patients were then treated for depression, some received electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), some received psychotherapy or medication, and some received a combination of all therapies
.
After the treatment ended, they were rescanned, and the number of
connections was re-recorded.
They were also retested
for depressive symptoms.

"We found that the treatment of depression changed the brain's underlying structure, which was contrary to previous expectations
.
Patients who received treatment showed more contact
than before treatment.
In addition, those who responded most to treatment made more new connections
than those who responded little.
A second scan showing no time effect in healthy controls supports our finding that we see something related to the disease and more importantly something
related to the treatment of the disease.
We found that these changes occurred over a period of about 6 weeks, and we were surprised
by the speed of the reaction.
We can't explain how these changes occur or why they occur
in such different forms of treatment.
This is a very interesting and difficult study, and the authors repeatedly performed MRI scans to reveal changes
in structural connectivity over time in patients treated for depression.
The findings are very much in line with our current belief that the brain is more adaptable
(even for a short time) than we previously thought.
In fact, a major point in the treatment of depression (and other psychiatric disorders) is the malleable changes
that occur over time.
This is thought to be a common mechanism
of antidepressants, psychotherapy, and electroconvulsive therapy.
However, the number of studies elucidating what changes are necessary or specific to the response to depression treatment or remission are limited
.
In addition, the next question is whether it is possible for different treatments to specifically alter the target brain network, or vice versa, and whether we can use the brain network perturbations measured in the current study to choose which treatment is helpful
.
The fact that over time, the observed changes cannot be linked to one form of treatment is regrettable, but the authors themselves propose a topic
for further study.
First, these results should be replicated in an independent sample, hopefully soon
.
Second, further elaboration of this approach will be arduous and should be firmly supported, as this work may help bridge the current gap
between neuroscience and evidence-based patient care.
”