MedPath

Interleaved TMS-fMRI in Ultra-treatment Resistant Depression

Not Applicable
Recruiting
Conditions
Major Depressive Disorder
Interventions
Device: rTMS
Registration Number
NCT05813093
Lead Sponsor
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Brief Summary

This is a study that will recruit patients from the neurosurgery clinic and the regular TMS clinic. It's a smaller study designed to collect brain imaging pre-treatment and then use image guided TMS to treat patient with a one week "accelerated" rTMS protocol using the research TMS machine that is housed in Dr. Sean Nestor's lab. The idea is to examine whether severe treatment resistant depression has a different brain signature than less severe/TRD and whether the investigators can get a therapeutic response from patients that would otherwise undergo neurosurgery or will ultimately undergo neurosurgery.

Detailed Description

The objective of this study is to assess plasticity in both whole brain connectivity and a mood/affective circuit involving the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in individuals undergoing repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for treatment of ultra-treatment resistant depression. Our second aim is to explore how these markers predict response to rTMS. The DLPFC is a brain region known to support mood regulation and has functional brain activity that is altered in depression. Past evidence from healthy controls suggests that rTMS increases coupling of the DLPFC network with another functional brain network involved in reward. Using sophisticated neuroimaging techniques that concurrently capture functional MRI while patients are being stimulated with rTMS, the investigators will identify patterns of brain activity associated with depressed mood and measure the coupling of the DLPFC mood circuit with a reward network prior to an acute course of rTMS. Following baseline imaging, all patients will then undergo an accelerated rTMS protocol over the course of five days, using the pre-treatment imaging to localize the brain region (circuit) targeted by the TMS coil. The investigators will also use questionnaires to assess mood and function before, during and after rTMS treatment. Two comparison groups will be included in this study: 1) patients with depression who have ultra-treatment resistant depression and have been referred for consideration of neurosurgical neuromodulation for depression, and 2) persons with milder treatment resistant depression who are referred to the Harquail Centre for rTMS treatment of depression. This research will help us better understand the mechanisms of how rTMS modulates brain activity, improve TMS targeting in depression, and identify pre-treatment imaging that predict response to rTMS with potentially far-reaching clinical implications.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
88
Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
SINGLE_GROUP
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Accelerated iTBS treatmentrTMSaccelerated iTBS treatment protocol over 5 consecutive days
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in depressive symptomatology3 years

Change in depression symptomatology as assessed by the clinician-rated 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (range 0-52)

Imaging3 years

fMRI target engagement in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC)

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

🇨🇦

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

© Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved by MedPath