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Dr Shock MD PhD
In a recent previous post the topic was the neuroanatomy of depression, or which sites of the brain can play a role in depression. Which parts of the brain show the dysfunction underlying depression. MRI scans can link neurobiology of depression with clinical findings through brain imaging studies that examine regional structure, regional function or connectivity. This can aid the diagnosis of depression. But can structural and functional MRI predict response to an antidepressant or psychotherapy?
From a recent review including studies examining the relations between imaging and clinical outcome in patients with depression:
In general, patients who remit have larger pretreatment hippocampus volumes bilaterally compared with those who do not remit.
One of the major drawbacks of these kind of studies is the lack of proof of causality. Even in longitudinal studies, the imaging during the course of the illness always starts when the patient is depressed. Besides this influence on the results of imaging studies other factors can also influence the measures. These studies can generate hypotheses about the prediction of response …