Lack of neuropsychological effects following short-term subcallosal cingulate gyrus deep brain stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: a randomised crossover study

Background The subcallosal cingulate gyrus (SCG) is integral to cognitive function and mood regulation. Open-label SCG deep brain stimulation (DBS) studies demonstrate improvement or stabilisation of cognitive function in treatment-resistant depression (TRD).Objective This randomised controlled stud...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Andres M Lozano, Wendy Lou, Peter Giacobbe, Sidney H Kennedy, Michelle Wu, Vanessa K Tassone, Venkat Bhat, Fatemeh Gholamali Nezhad, Yuelee Khoo, Qiaowei Lin, Ilya Demchenko, Reinhard Janssen-Aguilar, Amanda K Ceniti, Sakina J Rizvi, Mary Pat McAndrews
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2025-02-01
Series:BMJ Mental Health
Online Access:https://mentalhealth.bmj.com/content/28/1/e301408.full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850204939334189056
author Andres M Lozano
Wendy Lou
Peter Giacobbe
Sidney H Kennedy
Michelle Wu
Vanessa K Tassone
Venkat Bhat
Fatemeh Gholamali Nezhad
Yuelee Khoo
Qiaowei Lin
Ilya Demchenko
Reinhard Janssen-Aguilar
Amanda K Ceniti
Sakina J Rizvi
Mary Pat McAndrews
author_facet Andres M Lozano
Wendy Lou
Peter Giacobbe
Sidney H Kennedy
Michelle Wu
Vanessa K Tassone
Venkat Bhat
Fatemeh Gholamali Nezhad
Yuelee Khoo
Qiaowei Lin
Ilya Demchenko
Reinhard Janssen-Aguilar
Amanda K Ceniti
Sakina J Rizvi
Mary Pat McAndrews
author_sort Andres M Lozano
collection DOAJ
description Background The subcallosal cingulate gyrus (SCG) is integral to cognitive function and mood regulation. Open-label SCG deep brain stimulation (DBS) studies demonstrate improvement or stabilisation of cognitive function in treatment-resistant depression (TRD).Objective This randomised controlled study aims to evaluate the neuropsychological effects of SCG-DBS.Methods 35 participants with TRD received active or sham stimulation over two 3-month periods. A neuropsychological battery was administered to assess processing speed, learning and memory, and cognitive flexibility. Composite measures were derived for each domain after Period I. A mixed model for repeated measures analysis was performed for each test, with further analysis of significant measures to determine sustainability after Period II.Findings No significant differences in changes in depression scores were observed between groups. There were no significant deteriorations in cognitive performance following active SCG-DBS. Category Fluency Test performance improved after 3 months of active SCG-DBS (p=0.002); however, this was non-significant after correcting for multiple comparisons and was not observed after Period II (p=0.615).Conclusion and implications While no cognitive deterioration was observed following SCG-DBS, significant improvements in cognitive function were not evident. There may be a transient enhancement in processing speed; however, this effect is not fully understood. Future studies should include larger cohorts and extended stimulation periods to explore the long-term effects of SCG-DBS in TRD and the sustainability of improvements in cognitive domains.
format Article
id doaj-art-32c232bd245e4fac9ec04e73514b9f30
institution OA Journals
issn 2755-9734
language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher BMJ Publishing Group
record_format Article
series BMJ Mental Health
spelling doaj-art-32c232bd245e4fac9ec04e73514b9f302025-08-20T02:11:12ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Mental Health2755-97342025-02-0128110.1136/bmjment-2024-301408Lack of neuropsychological effects following short-term subcallosal cingulate gyrus deep brain stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: a randomised crossover studyAndres M Lozano0Wendy Lou1Peter Giacobbe2Sidney H Kennedy3Michelle Wu4Vanessa K Tassone5Venkat Bhat6Fatemeh Gholamali Nezhad7Yuelee Khoo8Qiaowei Lin9Ilya Demchenko10Reinhard Janssen-Aguilar11Amanda K Ceniti12Sakina J Rizvi13Mary Pat McAndrews14Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University Health Network and University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaDivision of Biostatistics, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaSunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaInstitute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaInterventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaInterventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaKrembil Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaInterventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaInterventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaInterventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaInterventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaInterventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaArthur Sommer Rotenberg Suicide and Depression Studies Program, St Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaInstitute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaKrembil Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaBackground The subcallosal cingulate gyrus (SCG) is integral to cognitive function and mood regulation. Open-label SCG deep brain stimulation (DBS) studies demonstrate improvement or stabilisation of cognitive function in treatment-resistant depression (TRD).Objective This randomised controlled study aims to evaluate the neuropsychological effects of SCG-DBS.Methods 35 participants with TRD received active or sham stimulation over two 3-month periods. A neuropsychological battery was administered to assess processing speed, learning and memory, and cognitive flexibility. Composite measures were derived for each domain after Period I. A mixed model for repeated measures analysis was performed for each test, with further analysis of significant measures to determine sustainability after Period II.Findings No significant differences in changes in depression scores were observed between groups. There were no significant deteriorations in cognitive performance following active SCG-DBS. Category Fluency Test performance improved after 3 months of active SCG-DBS (p=0.002); however, this was non-significant after correcting for multiple comparisons and was not observed after Period II (p=0.615).Conclusion and implications While no cognitive deterioration was observed following SCG-DBS, significant improvements in cognitive function were not evident. There may be a transient enhancement in processing speed; however, this effect is not fully understood. Future studies should include larger cohorts and extended stimulation periods to explore the long-term effects of SCG-DBS in TRD and the sustainability of improvements in cognitive domains.https://mentalhealth.bmj.com/content/28/1/e301408.full
spellingShingle Andres M Lozano
Wendy Lou
Peter Giacobbe
Sidney H Kennedy
Michelle Wu
Vanessa K Tassone
Venkat Bhat
Fatemeh Gholamali Nezhad
Yuelee Khoo
Qiaowei Lin
Ilya Demchenko
Reinhard Janssen-Aguilar
Amanda K Ceniti
Sakina J Rizvi
Mary Pat McAndrews
Lack of neuropsychological effects following short-term subcallosal cingulate gyrus deep brain stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: a randomised crossover study
BMJ Mental Health
title Lack of neuropsychological effects following short-term subcallosal cingulate gyrus deep brain stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: a randomised crossover study
title_full Lack of neuropsychological effects following short-term subcallosal cingulate gyrus deep brain stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: a randomised crossover study
title_fullStr Lack of neuropsychological effects following short-term subcallosal cingulate gyrus deep brain stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: a randomised crossover study
title_full_unstemmed Lack of neuropsychological effects following short-term subcallosal cingulate gyrus deep brain stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: a randomised crossover study
title_short Lack of neuropsychological effects following short-term subcallosal cingulate gyrus deep brain stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: a randomised crossover study
title_sort lack of neuropsychological effects following short term subcallosal cingulate gyrus deep brain stimulation in treatment resistant depression a randomised crossover study
url https://mentalhealth.bmj.com/content/28/1/e301408.full
work_keys_str_mv AT andresmlozano lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy
AT wendylou lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy
AT petergiacobbe lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy
AT sidneyhkennedy lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy
AT michellewu lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy
AT vanessaktassone lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy
AT venkatbhat lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy
AT fatemehgholamalinezhad lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy
AT yueleekhoo lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy
AT qiaoweilin lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy
AT ilyademchenko lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy
AT reinhardjanssenaguilar lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy
AT amandakceniti lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy
AT sakinajrizvi lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy
AT marypatmcandrews lackofneuropsychologicaleffectsfollowingshorttermsubcallosalcingulategyrusdeepbrainstimulationintreatmentresistantdepressionarandomisedcrossoverstudy