A Comparative Study of the Clinical Efficacy of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Targeting the DLPFC Versus DMPFC in the Treatment of Depression

Background:

Depression is a common mental disorder characterized by persistent low mood and anhedonia. Pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatments demonstrate only moderate efficacy. Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques offer novel therapeutic approaches. Among these, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) holds advantages due to its simplicity, low cost, and minimal side effects, exhibiting good efficacy and tolerability in depression treatment. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a core region of the cognitive control network, serves as a traditional target for non-invasive brain stimulation in depression and plays a crucial role in positive affect (PA) processing. Conversely, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), a central region of the default mode network, participates in negative self-referential processing and negative affect (NA) regulation, demonstrating potential as a novel therapeutic target.

Objective:

Given the distinct roles of DLPFC and DMPFC in separate affective regulation networks, this study aims to investigate the differential effects of different tDCS targets on emotional regulation in patients with depression.

Design:

This study employed a randomized, double-blind, controlled design. Participants diagnosed with depression will be randomly assigned to receive either effective tDCS targeting the left DLPFC or effective tDCS targeting the DMPFC. Primary outcome measures focus on changes in clinical symptom assessments.