Brain scans may help identify whether psychotherapy or antidepressant medication would be a better treatment option for a patient of depression, a new study suggests.
Researchers from Emory University in the US randomly assigned about 344 patients to 12 weeks of treatment with one of two antidepressant medications or with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
At the start of the study, patients underwent a functional MRI brain scan, which was then analysed to see whether the outcome from CBT or medication depended on the state of the brain prior to starting treatment.
The MRI scans identified that the degree of functional connectivity between an important emotion processing centre (the subcallosal cingulate cortex) and three other areas of the brain was associated with the treatment outcomes.
Specifically, patients with positive connectivity between the brain regions were significantly more likely to achieve remission with CBT, whereas patients with negative or absent connectivity were more likely to remit with antidepressant medication, researchers said.
"All depressions are not equal and like different types of cancer, different types of depression will require specific treatments.
"Using these scans, we may be able to match a patient to the treatment that is most likely to help them, while avoiding treatments unlikely to provide benefit," said Helen Mayberg of Emory University.
The study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
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