Lydia Fortea , Alexander T. Ysbæk-Nielsen , Jeff Zarp , Patrick M. Fisher , Lars Kessing , Martin Balslev Jørgensen , Gitte Moos Knudsen , Joaquim Radua , Eduard Vieta , Julian Macoveanu , Kamilla W. Miskowiak
{"title":"Functional connectivity differences in patients with mood disorders: an exploratory fMRI study comparing electroconvulsive therapy with pharmacological treatment","authors":"Lydia Fortea , Alexander T. Ysbæk-Nielsen , Jeff Zarp , Patrick M. Fisher , Lars Kessing , Martin Balslev Jørgensen , Gitte Moos Knudsen , Joaquim Radua , Eduard Vieta , Julian Macoveanu , Kamilla W. Miskowiak","doi":"10.1016/j.nsa.2025.105522","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.nsa.2025.105522","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been shown to induce widespread dysregulation of network connectivity in patients with mood disorders. Nevertheless, the extent to which these functional changes contribute to patients’ cognitive side-effects or depressive symptoms improvement remains unclear. This study investigated cross-sectional resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) differences in patients with mood disorders after their 8th ECT session (ECT group, n = 33) compared to those receiving pharmacological treatment (non-ECT group, n = 36) and healthy controls (n = 34). Furthermore, we explored the association of rs-FC differences with cognitive side-effects and depressive symptom improvements assessed longitudinally in the ECT group. We focused on analyzing rs-FC within- and between the default mode network (DMN), executive control network (ECN), and frontoparietal network (FPN). Additionally, we explored the association between significant rs-FC group differences and verbal memory decline, and depressive symptoms improvement from pre-to post-ECT within the ECT group. ECT-treated patients exhibited <em>hyper-</em>connectivity within the left-hemisphere FPN compared to those on pharmacological treatment, along with <em>hypo-</em>connectivity between ECN and FPN (p-corrected<0.02). Depressive symptoms positively correlated with rs-FC within the right-hemisphere FPN (p-corrected<0.04). Notably, rs-FC differences were unrelated to verbal memory decline or symptom improvement from pre-to post-ECT (p-corrected>0.1). Our findings highlight differences in brain connectivity between remitted patients after ECT and diagnosis-matched patients following standard pharmacological treatment. Further studies are warranted to investigate longitudinal rs-FC effects of ECT to identify biomarkers predictive of treatment response and the risk of cognitive side effects after ECT.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100952,"journal":{"name":"Neuroscience Applied","volume":"4 ","pages":"Article 105522"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144279194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Francisca Silva , Florence Butlen-Ducuing , Lorenzo Guizzaro , Pavel Balabanov
{"title":"A review of psychedelics trials completed in depression, informed by European regulatory perspectives","authors":"Francisca Silva , Florence Butlen-Ducuing , Lorenzo Guizzaro , Pavel Balabanov","doi":"10.1016/j.nsa.2025.105516","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.nsa.2025.105516","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is a growing body of clinical research on the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for the treatment of mental health disorders, notably depression. Accordingly, the new revision of the European Medicines Agency guideline on the clinical investigation of products for depression will incorporate a section covering specific regulatory recommendations for the design of studies with psychedelics. The present review investigated the methodological approaches adopted in completed controlled trials of psychedelics for depression in light of initial considerations included in the draft guideline revision. A systematic search conducted on scientific databases (Embase and Medline) and clinical trial registries (<span><span>clinicaltrials.gov</span><svg><path></path></svg></span> and WHO ICTPR) identified 8 completed trials as of February 2024. The trials tested psilocybin, LSD, Ayahuasca, and DMT, for major depressive disorder or treatment-resistant depression, and were all pahse 2 or 1/2. Patterns in pre-defined methodological variables pertaining to trial design, population, interventions, outcome measures and safety assessments were analysed and collated against considerations on unblinding and expectancy, choice of comparator, the definition of treatment frameworks, the characterisation of the subjective psychedelic experience and the specification of adverse events in relation to subjective psychedelic effects. Areas for future research, including long-term efficacy and safety and the influence of inter-individual differences, can be investigated in larger studies, necessary for marketing authorisation applications. Ultimately, balancing the intricacies of conducting trials with psychedelics with ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements can be facilitated by early dialogue with medicines regulators, and will be essential for the medical development of psychedelics to address unmet patient needs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100952,"journal":{"name":"Neuroscience Applied","volume":"4 ","pages":"Article 105516"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143570521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
K. Egger , M. Daniel , F. Polat , M. Avram , M. Scheidegger
{"title":"Functional connectivity changes after a meditation retreat including administration of an ayahuasca-inspired formulation","authors":"K. Egger , M. Daniel , F. Polat , M. Avram , M. Scheidegger","doi":"10.1016/j.nsa.2025.105413","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.nsa.2025.105413","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":100952,"journal":{"name":"Neuroscience Applied","volume":"4 ","pages":"Article 105413"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143636660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Farmand , A. Du Preez , C. Kim , B. Stubbs , S. Thuret
{"title":"NeuroFit intervention trial: effects of exercise on cognition and hippocampal neurogenesis in middle-aged adults","authors":"S. Farmand , A. Du Preez , C. Kim , B. Stubbs , S. Thuret","doi":"10.1016/j.nsa.2025.105483","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.nsa.2025.105483","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":100952,"journal":{"name":"Neuroscience Applied","volume":"4 ","pages":"Article 105483"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143636716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}