Unilateral right anterior capsulotomy for refractory major depression with comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder

Unilateral anterior capsulotomy combined with deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease psychosis and motor dysfunctions

Psychosis is a frequent and debilitating non-motor symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed to evaluate the availability of unilateral anterior capsulotomy combined with subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) in managing advanced PD patients comorbid with psychosis. Five advanced PD patients with psychosis who had been treated with unilateral anterior capsulotomy combined with bilateral STN-DBS were assessed. The positive subscore of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale III (UPDRS-III) were used to assess the efficacy parameter of psychosis and the improved motor symptoms, respectively. The quality of life (QoL) was accessed by an 8-item Parkinson's disease Questionnaire (PDQ-8). Clinical outcome assessments were performed at baseline and follow-ups after one or two years. Significant improvement was observed in PD patients during follow-up after the combined treatment. The positive subscore of PANSS improved by 13.4 (5.7) (mean (SD), p = 0.006). Item P1 (delusions) and Item P3 (hallucinations) of the PANSS improved by 5.0 (0.71) (p < 0.0001) and 3.6 (0.89) (p = 0.0008), respectively. Furthermore, the motor symptoms improved by 32.4 (5.7) (UPDRS-III, p = 0.0002), and the QoL improved by 6.4 (3.8) (PDQ-8, p = 0.021). No significant side effects or complications occurred during the study. For advanced PD patients with refractory psychosis, unilateral anterior capsulotomy combined with bilateral STN-DBS improved PD psychosis and motor dysfunction, providing an effective therapeutic option for such patients.

Thalamo-cortical circuits associated with trait- and state-repetitive negative thinking in major depressive disorder

BACKGROUND

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT), often referred to as rumination in the mood disorders literature, is a symptom dimension associated with poor prognosis and suicide in major depressive disorder (MDD). Given the transdiagnostic nature of RNT, this study aimed to evaluate the hypothesis that neurobiological substrates of RNT in MDD may share the brain mechanisms underlying obsessions, particularly those involving cortico-striatal-thalamic-cortical (CSTC) circuits.

METHODS

Thirty-nine individuals with MDD underwent RNT induction during fMRI. Trait-RNT was measured by the Ruminative Response Scale (RRS) and state-RNT was measured by a visual analogue scale. We employed a connectome-wide association analysis examining the association between RNT intensity with striatal and thalamic connectivity.

RESULTS

A greater RRS score was associated with hyperconnectivity of the right mediodorsal thalamus with prefrontal cortex, including lateral orbitofrontal cortex, along with Wernicke's area and posterior default mode network nodes (t = 4.66-6.70). A greater state-RNT score was associated with hyperconnectivity of the right laterodorsal thalamus with bilateral primary sensory and motor cortices, supplementary motor area, and Broca's area (t = 4.51-6.57). Unexpectedly, there were no significant findings related to the striatum.

CONCLUSIONS

The present results suggest RNT in MDD is subserved by abnormal connectivity between right thalamic nuclei and cortical regions involved in both visceral and higher order cognitive processing. Emerging deep-brain neuromodulation methods may be useful to establish causal relationships between dysfunction of right thalamic-cortical circuits and RNT in MDD.

Trait repetitive negative thinking in depression is associated with functional connectivity in negative thinking state rather than resting state

Resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) has been proposed as a potential indicator of repetitive negative thinking (RNT) in depression. However, identifying the specific functional process associated with RSFC alterations is challenging, and it remains unclear whether alterations in RSFC for depressed individuals are directly related to the RNT process or to individual characteristics distinct from the negative thinking process per se. To investigate the relationship between RSFC alterations and the RNT process in individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD), we compared RSFC with functional connectivity during an induced negative-thinking state (NTFC) in terms of their predictability of RNT traits and associated whole-brain connectivity patterns using connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM) and connectome-wide association (CWA) analyses. Thirty-six MDD participants and twenty-six healthy control participants underwent both resting state and induced negative thinking state fMRI scans. Both RSFC and NTFC distinguished between healthy and depressed individuals with CPM. However, trait RNT in depressed individuals, as measured by the Ruminative Responses Scale-Brooding subscale, was only predictable from NTFC, not from RSFC. CWA analysis revealed that negative thinking in depression was associated with higher functional connectivity between the default mode and executive control regions, which was not observed in RSFC. These findings suggest that RNT in depression involves an active mental process encompassing multiple brain regions across functional networks, which is not represented in the resting state. Although RSFC indicates brain functional alterations in MDD, they may not directly reflect the negative thinking process.

Trait repetitive negative thinking in depression is associated with functional connectivity in negative thinking state rather than resting state

Resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) has been proposed as a potential indicator of repetitive negative thinking (RNT) in depression. However, identifying the specific functional process associated with RSFC alterations is challenging, and it remains unclear whether alterations in RSFC for depressed individuals are directly related to the RNT process or to individual characteristics distinct from the negative thinking process per se. To investigate the relationship between RSFC alterations and the RNT process in individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD), we compared RSFC with functional connectivity during an induced negative-thinking state (NTFC) in terms of their predictability of RNT traits and associated whole-brain connectivity patterns using connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM) and connectome-wide association (CWA) analyses. Thirty-six MDD participants and twenty-six healthy control participants underwent both resting state and induced negative thinking state fMRI scans. Both RSFC and NTFC distinguished between healthy and depressed individuals with CPM. However, trait RNT in depressed individuals, as measured by the Ruminative Responses Scale-Brooding subscale, was only predictable from NTFC, not from RSFC. CWA analysis revealed that negative thinking in depression was associated with higher functional connectivity between the default mode and executive control regions, which was not observed in RSFC. These findings suggest that RNT in depression involves an active mental process encompassing multiple brain regions across functional networks, which is not represented in the resting state. Although RSFC indicates brain functional alterations in MDD, they may not directly reflect the negative thinking process.

Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound capsulotomy for refractory obsessive compulsive disorder and major depressive disorder: clinical and imaging results from two phase I trials

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) are common, often refractory, neuropsychiatric conditions for which new treatment approaches are urgently needed. Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a novel surgical technique permitting incisionless ablative neurosurgery. We examined the safety profile, clinical response, and imaging correlates of MRgFUS bilateral anterior capsulotomy in patients with refractory obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD, N = 6) and major depressive disorder (MDD, n = 6). There were no serious adverse events. Nonserious adverse events included headaches and pin-site swelling in 7/12 patients. The response rate was 4/6 and 2/6 in the OCD and MDD cohorts respectively. To delineate the white-matter tracts impacted by capsulotomy, a normative diffusion MRI-based structural connectome was used, revealing tracts terminating primarily in the frontal pole, medial thalamus, striatum, and medial-temporal lobe. Positron emission tomography (PET) analysis (nine subjects) revealed widespread decreases in metabolism bilaterally in the cerebral hemispheres at 6 months post treatment, as well as in the right hippocampus, amygdala, and putamen. A pretreatment seed-to-voxel resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) analysis (12 subjects) revealed three voxel clusters significantly associated with eventual clinical response. MRgFUS capsulotomy appears to be safe, well tolerated, and according to these initial results, may be an important treatment option for patients with refractory OCD and MDD. MRgFUS capsulotomy results in both targeted and widespread changes in neural activity, and neuroimaging may hold potential for the prediction of outcome.

The History and Future of Ablative Neurosurgery for Major Depressive Disorder

BACKGROUND

There is an urgent need to develop safe and effective treatments for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Several neurosurgical procedures have been developed to treat the dysfunctional brain circuits implicated in major depression.

OBJECTIVES

This review describes the most common ablative procedures used to treat major depressive disorder: anterior cingulotomy, subcaudate tractotomy, limbic leucotomy, and anterior capsulotomy. The efficacy and safety of each are discussed and compared with other current and emerging modalities, including deep brain stimulation (DBS) and MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS).

METHODS

The PubMed and MEDLINE electronic databases were used in this study, through July 2016. Keywords, including "treatment resistant depression," and "ablative neurosurgery," etc. were used to generate reference hits.

RESULTS

Approximately a third to half of patients who underwent ablative procedures achieved a treatment response and/or remission. The efficacy and safety profiles corresponding to both ablative procedures and DBS were very similar.

CONCLUSIONS

The longitudinal experience with ablative procedures shows that there remains an important role for accurate, discrete lesions in disrupting affective circuitry in the treatment of TRD. New modalities, such as MRgFUS, have the potential to further improve the accuracy of ablative procedures, while enhancing safety by obviating the need for open brain surgery.

Brain Dysfunctions, Psychopathologies, and Body Image Distortions

The major features in eating disorders are a preoccupation with food and its consumption and body dissatisfaction. Diagnostic manuals provide clusters of criteria according to which affected individuals can be categorized into one or other group of eating disorder. Yet, when considering the high proportion of comorbidities and ignoring the content of the symptoms (food, body), the major features seem to yield obsessional-compulsive, addictive, and impulsive qualities. In the present article, we review studies from the neuroscientific literature (mainly lesion studies) on eating disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, impulse control disorder, and addiction to investigate the possibility of a wider phenotype that can be related to a common brain network. The literature localizes this network to the right frontal lobe and its connectivities. This network, when dysfunctional, might result in a behavior that favors the preoccupation with particular thoughts, behaviors, anxieties, and uncontrollable urges that are accompanied by little scope for ongoing behavioral adjustments (e.g., impulse control). We reason that this network may turn out to be equally involved in understudied mental conditions of dysfunctional body processing such as muscle dysmorphia, body dysmorphic disorder (including esthetic surgery), and xelomelia. We finally consider previous notions of a wider phenotype approach to current diagnostic practice (using DSM), such as the possibility of a model with a reduced number of diagnostic categories and primary and secondary factors, and to etiological models of mental health conditions.

Microstructural abnormality in left nucleus accumbens predicts dysfunctional beliefs in treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder

Background

The aim of this study was to determine whether dysfunctional beliefs might predict treatment-resistance and to examine the relationship between fractional anisotropy (FA) in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and cognitive biases for optimal treatment choice.

Material/Methods

We recruited 11 non-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients, 11 resistant OCD patients, and 11 healthy subjects.

Results

OCD patients had higher Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ-87) subscale scores than subjects in non-resistant and resistant groups. A significant difference was found between non-resistant and resistant OCD patients in R-Scale and I-Scale. A significant decrease in FA was found in left dorsal frontal gyrus and left inferior parietal lobule in the non-resistant group as compared to the control group. FA also decreased significantly in left anterior cingulate cortex, putamen, and nucleus accumbens in the resistant group as compared to the control group. There was a significant decrease in FA in nucleus accumbens in the resistant group as compared to the non-resistant group. Reduced FA in left nucleus accumbens was negatively associated with OBQ-87 factor R and I and the total Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS).

Conclusions

Abnormalities in cortical-striatal white matter networks may contribute to the dysfunctional beliefs in patients with treatment-resistant OCD, and the left nucleus accumbens may be an important and promising target for the treatment of OCD.

Deep brain stimulation in obsessive-compulsive disorder: neurocircuitry and clinical experience

The last decade has seen a significant rise in interest in the use of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the management of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), one of psychiatry's most challenging conditions. The prominent role of both thought (obsessions) and motor (compulsions) dysfunction in OCD place the condition at the border between the neurological and the psychiatric. This is supported by a growing body of literature that implicates structures in decision-making, reward, and action-selection circuits in the disorder. Here, we provide an overview of the neurocircuitry of OCD while reviewing the DBS literature to date for the condition. Results of DBS trials in treatment- resistant OCD have been remarkably similar, with clinical response rates in the range of 40-60%, despite the use of a diverse range of targets. These results imply that a common underlying circuit is being modulated, and moreover that there is room for improvement, and debate, in the development of an evidence-driven DBS treatment for this chronic, debilitating illness.