Thursday, 20 June 2013

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Researchers at Emory University have discovered that specific patterns of brain activity may indicate whether a depressed patient will or will not respond to treatment with medication or psychotherapy, and scan patterns prior to treatment may provide important clues as to which treatment to choose.
 In this study, investigators used PET (positron emission tomography) scans to measure brain glucose metabolism, finding that activity in the anterior insula region of the brain could discriminate between patients who recovered and those who were non-responders to the treatment assigned. Specifically, patients with low activity in the insula showed remission with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), but poor response to medication; patients with high activity in the insula did well with medication, and poorly with CBT. Though not yet appropriate for routine treatment, the data suggests treating a patient based on brain type increases the chances of remission.
 This image shows a PET finding with activity in the right anterior insula superimposed on an MRI for anatomical orientation.

More info: http://news.emory.edu/stories/2013/06/psych_maycraigdun_biomarkers_depression/

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