Test-retest reliability of a stimulation-locked evoked response to deep brain stimulation in subcallosal cingulate for treatment resistant depression.
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ABSTRACT: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) to the subcallosal cingulate cortex (SCC) is an emerging therapy for treatment resistant depression. Precision targeting of specific white matter fibers is now central to the model of SCC DBS treatment efficacy. A method to confirm SCC DBS target engagement is needed to reduce procedural variance across treatment providers and to optimize DBS parameters for individual patients. We examined the reliability of a novel cortical evoked response that is time-locked to a 2 Hz DBS pulse and shows the propagation of signal from the DBS target. The evoked response was detected in four individuals as a stereotyped series of components within 150 ms of a 6 V DBS pulse, each showing coherent topography on the head surface. Test-retest reliability across four repeated measures over 14 months met or exceeded standards for valid test construction in three of four patients. Several observations in this pilot sample demonstrate the prospective utility of this method to confirm surgical target engagement and instruct parameter selection. The topography of an orbital frontal component on the head surface showed specificity for patterns of forceps minor activation, which may provide a means to confirm DBS location with respect to key white matter structures. A divergent cortical response to unilateral stimulation of left (vs. right) hemisphere underscores the need for feedback acuity on the level of a single electrode, despite bilateral presentation of therapeutic stimulation. Results demonstrate viability of this method to explore patient-specific cortical responsivity to DBS for brain-circuit pathologies.
Project description:Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of subcallosal cingulate white matter (SCCwm) alleviates symptoms of depression, but its mechanistic effects on brain dynamics remain unclear. In this study we used novel intracranial recordings (LFP) in n = 6 depressed patients stimulated with DBS around the SCCwm target, observing a novel dynamic oscillation (DOs). We confirm that DOs in the LFP are of neural origin and consistently evoked within certain patients. We then characterize the frequency and dynamics of DOs, observing significant variability in DO behavior across patients. Under the hypothesis that LFP-DOs reflect network engagement, we characterize the white matter tracts associated with LFP-DO observations and report a preliminary observation of DO-like activity measured in a single patient's electroencephalography (dEEG). These results support further study of DOs as an objective signal for mechanistic study and connectomics guided DBS.
Project description:Identifying functional biomarkers related to treatment success can aid in expediting therapy optimization, as well as contribute to a better understanding of the neural mechanisms of the treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and subcallosal cingulate deep brain stimulation (SCC-DBS). Magnetoencephalography data were obtained from 16 individuals with SCC-DBS for TRD and 25 healthy subjects. The first objective of the study was to identify region-specific oscillatory modulations that both (i) discriminate individuals with TRD (with SCC-DBS OFF) from healthy controls, and (ii) discriminate TRD treatment responders from non-responders (with SCC-DBS ON). The second objective of this work was to further explore the effects of stimulation intensity and frequency on oscillatory activity in the identified brain regions of interest. Oscillatory power analyses led to the identification of brain regions that differentiated responders from non-responders based on modulations of increased alpha (8-12 Hz) and decreased gamma (32-116 Hz) power within nodes of the default mode, central executive, and somatomotor networks, Broca's area, and lingual gyrus. Within these nodes, it was also found that low stimulation frequency had stronger effects on oscillatory modulation than increased stimulation intensity. The identified functional network biomarkers implicate modulation of TRD-related activity in brain regions involved in emotional control/processing, motor control, and the interaction between speech, vision, and memory, which have all been implicated in depression. These electrophysiological biomarkers have the potential to be used as functional proxies for therapy optimization. Additional stimulation parameter analyses revealed that oscillatory modulations can be strengthened by increasing stimulation intensity or reducing frequency, which may represent potential avenues of direction in non-responders.
Project description:Precision targeting of specific white matter bundles that traverse the subcallosal cingulate (SCC) has been linked to efficacy of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for treatment resistant depression (TRD). Methods to confirm optimal target engagement in this heterogenous region are now critical to establish an objective treatment protocol. As yet unexamined are the time-frequency features of the SCC evoked potential (SCC-EP), including spectral power and phase-clustering. We examined these spectral features-evoked power and phase clustering-in a sample of TRD patients (n = 8) with implanted SCC stimulators. Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded during wakeful rest. Location of electrical stimulation in the SCC target region was the experimental manipulation. EEG was analyzed at the surface level with an average reference for a cluster of frontal sensors and at a time window identified by prior study (50-150 ms). Morlet wavelets generated indices of evoked power and inter-trial phase clustering. Enhanced phase clustering at theta frequency (4-7 Hz) was observed in every subject and was significantly correlated with SCC-EP magnitude, but only during left SCC stimulation. Stimulation to dorsal SCC evinced stronger phase clustering than ventral SCC. There was a weak correlation between phase clustering and white matter density. An increase in evoked delta power (2-4 Hz) was also coincident with SCC-EP, but was less consistent across participants. DBS evoked time-frequency features index mm-scale changes to the location of stimulation in the SCC target region and correlate with structural characteristics implicated in treatment optimization. Results also imply a shared generative mechanism (inter-trial phase clustering) between evoked potentials evinced by electrical stimulation and evoked potentials evinced by auditory/visual stimuli and behavioral tasks. Understanding how current injection impacts downstream cortical activity is essential to building new technologies that adapt treatment parameters to individual differences in neurophysiology.
Project description:Deep brain stimulation (DBS) may be an effective intervention for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but available data are limited.To assess the efficacy and safety of subcallosal cingulate DBS in patients with TRD with either major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar II disorder (BP).Open-label trial with a sham lead-in phase.Academic medical center. Patients Men and women aged 18 to 70 years with a moderate-to-severe major depressive episode after at least 4 adequate antidepressant treatments. Ten patients with MDD and 7 with BP were enrolled from a total of 323 patients screened. Intervention Deep brain stimulation electrodes were implanted bilaterally in the subcallosal cingulate white matter. Patients received single-blind sham stimulation for 4 weeks followed by active stimulation for 24 weeks. Patients then entered a single-blind discontinuation phase; this phase was stopped after the first 3 patients because of ethical concerns. Patients were evaluated for up to 2 years after the onset of active stimulation.Change in depression severity and functioning over time, and response and remission rates after 24 weeks were the primary efficacy end points; secondary efficacy end points were 1 year and 2 years of active stimulation.A significant decrease in depression and increase in function were associated with chronic stimulation. Remission and response were seen in 3 patients (18%) and 7 (41%) after 24 weeks (n = 17), 5 (36%) and 5 (36%) after 1 year (n = 14), and 7 (58%) and 11 (92%) after 2 years (n = 12) of active stimulation. No patient achieving remission experienced a spontaneous relapse. Efficacy was similar for patients with MDD and those with BP. Chronic DBS was safe and well tolerated, and no hypomanic or manic episodes occurred. A modest sham stimulation effect was found, likely due to a decrease in depression after the surgical intervention but prior to entering the sham phase.The findings of this study support the long-term safety and antidepressant efficacy of subcallosal cingulate DBS for TRD and suggest equivalent safety and efficacy for TRD in patients with BP. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00367003.
Project description:The habenula (Hb) is a small, evolutionarily conserved epithalamic structure implicated in functions such as reward and mood regulation. Prior imaging work suggests that Hb's structural and functional properties may relate to treatment response in depression and other mood disorders. We used multimodal MRI techniques to investigate the potential involvement of Hb in response to subcallosal cingulate area deep brain stimulation (SCC-DBS) for treatment-resistant mood disorders. Using an automated segmentation technique, we compared Hb volume at baseline and at a subsequent post-operative timepoint (4.4 ± 3.0 years after surgery) in a cohort of 32 patients who received SCC-DBS. Clinical response to treatment (≥50% decrease in HAMD-17 from baseline to 12 months post-operation) was significantly associated with longitudinal Hb volume change: responders tended to have increased Hb volume over time, while non-responders showed decreased Hb volume (t = 2.4, p = 0.021). We additionally used functional MRI (fMRI) in a subcohort of SCC-DBS patients (n = 12) to investigate immediate within-patient changes in Hb functional connectivity associated with SCC-DBS stimulation. Active DBS was significantly associated with increased Hb connectivity to several prefrontal and corticolimbic regions (TFCE-adjusted p Bonferroni < 0.0001), many of which have been previously implicated in the neurocircuitry of depression. Taken together, our results suggest that Hb may play an important role in the antidepressant effect of SCC-DBS.
Project description:OBJECTIVE:Create a software tool to facilitate tractography-based deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrode targeting within the patient-specific stereotactic coordinate system used in the operating room. APPROACH:StimVision was developed with Visualization Toolkit libraries and integrates four major components: 1) medical image visualization, 2) tractography visualization, 3) DBS electrode positioning, and 4) DBS activation volume calculation with tractography intersection. RESULTS:Initial applications of StimVision are focused on the study of subcallosal cingulate (SCC) DBS for the treatment of depression. Retrospective modeling results on SCC DBS have suggested that direct stimulation of a specific collection of tractographic pathways are necessary for therapeutic benefit; thereby creating a tractography-based DBS surgical targeting hypotheses. StimVision is the tool we created to facilitate prospective clinical evaluation of that hypothesis. SIGNIFICANCE:Retrospective tractography-based analyses are common in DBS research; however, intraoperative software tools for interactive selection of a tractography-based DBS target are not readily available. StimVision provides an academic research tool to assist clinical implementation of new DBS targeting strategies and postoperative evaluation of targeting outcome.
Project description:The clinical utility of monitoring behavioral changes during intraoperative testing of subcallosal cingulate deep brain stimulation is unknown.To characterize the structural connectivity correlates of deep brain stimulation-evoked behavioral effects using probabilistic tractography in depression.Categorization of acute behavioral effects was conducted in 9 adults undergoing deep brain stimulation implantation surgery for chronic treatment-resistant depression in a randomized and blinded testing session at Emory University. Patients were studied from September 1, 2011, through June 30, 2013. Post hoc analyses of the structural tractography patterns mediating distinct categories of evoked behavioral effects were defined, including the best response overall. Data analyses were performed from May 1 through July 1, 2015.Categorization of stimulation-induced transient behavioral effects and delineation of the shared white matter tracts mediating response subtypes.Among the 9 patients, 72 active and 36 sham trials were recorded. The following stereotypical behavior patterns were identified: changes in interoceptive (noted changes in body state in 30 of 72 active and 4 of 36 sham trials) and in exteroceptive (shift in attention from patient to others in 9 of 72 active and 0 sham trials) awareness. The best response was a combination of exteroceptive and interoceptive changes at a single left contact for all 9 patients. Structural connectivity showed that the best response contacts had a pattern of connections to the bilateral ventromedial frontal cortex (via forceps minor and left uncinate fasciculus) and to the cingulate cortex (via left cingulum bundle), whereas behaviorally salient but nonbest contacts had only cingulate involvement. The involvement of the 3 white matter bundles during stimulation of the best contacts suggests a mechanism for the observed transient "depression switch."This analysis of transient behavior changes during intraoperative deep brain stimulation of the subcallosal cingulate and the subsequent identification of unique connectivity patterns may provide a biomarker of a rapid-onset depression switch to guide surgical implantation and to refine and optimize algorithms for the selection of contacts in long-term stimulation for treatment-resistant depression.
Project description:Subcallosal cingulate (SCC) deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a promising therapy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but response rates in open-label studies were not replicated in a large multicenter trial. Identifying biomarkers of response could improve patient selection and outcomes. We examined SCC metabolic activity as both a predictor and marker of SCC DBS treatment response. Brain glucose metabolism (CMRGlu) was measured with [18F] FDG-PET at baseline and 6 months post DBS in 20 TRD patients in a double-blind randomized controlled trial where two stimulation types (long pulse width (LPW) n = 9 and short pulse width (SPW) n = 11) were used. Responders (n = 10) were defined by a ≥48% reduction in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores after 6 months. The response rates were similar with five responders in each stimulation group: LPW (55.6%) and SPW (44.5%). First, differences in SCC CMRGlu in responders and non-responders were compared at baseline. Then machine learning analysis was performed with a leave-one-out cross-validation using a Gaussian naive Bayes classifier to test whether baseline CMRGlu in SCC could categorize responders. Finally, we compared 6-month change in metabolic activity with change in depression severity. All analyses were controlled for age. Baseline SCC CMRGlu was significantly higher in responders than non-responders. The machine learning analysis predicted response with 80% accuracy. Furthermore, reduction in SCC CMRGlu 6 months post DBS correlated with symptom improvement (r(17) = 0.509; p = 0.031). This is the first evidence of an image-based treatment selection biomarker that predicts SCC DBS response. Future studies could utilize SCC metabolic activity for prospective patient selection.
Project description:BackgroundDeep brain stimulation (DBS) is a promising investigational approach for treatment-resistant depression. However, reports suggesting changes in personality with DBS for movement disorders have raised clinical and ethical concerns. We prospectively examined changes in personality dimensions and antidepressant response to subcallosal cingulate (SCC)-DBS for treatment-resistant depression.MethodsTwenty-two patients with treatment-resistant depression underwent SCC-DBS. We used the NEO Five-Factor Inventory for personality assessment at baseline and every 3 months until 15 months post-DBS. We assessed depression severity monthly using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.ResultsWe found a significant decrease in neuroticism (p = 0.002) and an increase in extraversion (p = 0.001) over time, showing a change toward normative data. Improvement on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale was correlated with decreases in neuroticism at 6 months (p = 0.001) and 12 months (p < 0.001), and with an increase in extraversion at 12 months (p = 0.01). Changes on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale over time had a significant covariate effect on neuroticism (p < 0.001) and extraversion (p = 0.001). Baseline openness and agreeableness predicted response to DBS at 6 (p = 0.006) and 12 months (p = 0.004), respectively.LimitationsLimitations included a small sample size, a lack of sham control and the use of subjective personality evaluation.ConclusionWe observed positive personality changes following SCC-DBS, with reduced neuroticism and increased extraversion related to clinical improvement in depression, suggesting a state effect. As well, pretreatment levels of openness and agreeableness may have predicted subsequent response to DBS. The NEO Five-Factor Inventory assessment may have a role in clinical decision-making and prognostic evaluation in patients with treatment-resistant depression who undergo SCC-DBS.
Project description:Ongoing experimental studies of subcallosal cingulate deep brain stimulation (SCC DBS) for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) show a differential timeline of behavioral effects with rapid changes after initial stimulation, and both early and delayed changes over the course of ongoing chronic stimulation. This study examined the longitudinal resting-state regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes in intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) with SCC DBS for TRD over 6 months and repeated the same analysis by glucose metabolite changes in a new cohort. A total of twenty-two patients with TRD, 17 [15O]-water and 5 [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) patients, received SCC DBS and were followed weekly for 7 months. PET scans were collected at 4-time points: baseline, 1-month after surgery, and 1 and 6 months of chronic stimulation. A linear mixed model was conducted to examine the differential trajectory of rCBF changes over time. Post-hoc tests were also examined to assess postoperative, early, and late ICN changes and response-specific effects. SCC DBS had significant time-specific effects in the salience network (SN) and the default mode network (DMN). The rCBF in SN and DMN was decreased after surgery, but responder and non-responders diverged thereafter, with a net increase in DMN activity in responders with chronic stimulation. Additionally, the rCBF in the DMN uniquely correlated with depression severity. The glucose metabolic changes in a second cohort show the same DMN changes. The trajectory of PET changes with SCC DBS is not linear, consistent with the chronology of therapeutic effects. These data provide novel evidence of both an acute reset and ongoing plastic effects in the DMN that may provide future biomarkers to track clinical improvement with ongoing treatment.