Explaining TMS treatment response in depression by means of functional connectivity

In a new BPS study (Prospective Validation That Subgenual Connectivity Predicts …) spearheaded by Anne Weigand and led by Michael D Fox, we were able to explain TMS treatment response by functional connectivity between the stimulation site in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the subgenual cingulate cortex. Specifically, strength of anticorrelations between DLPFC and subgenual were predictive of beneficial outcome. This relationship had been hypothesized by Michael D Fox and colleagues in 2012 (Efficacy of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Targets for De…) and was now prospectively validated in a sample of 25 patients treated at BIDMC with TMS.

Moreover, to exclude sham effects, a cohort of 16 patients treated by Stephan F Taylor in Michigan was retrospectively analyzed and showed the same relationship.