Trial reportBiological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging2021
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex and Subcallosal Cingulate Connectivity Show Preferential Antidepressant Response in Major Depressive Disorder.
Trial report in Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Functional Neuroimaging Correlates of Placebo Response in Patients With Depressive or Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Pooled it
- A common symptom geometry of mood improvement under sertraline and placebo associated with distinct neural patterns.Psychological medicine · 2025Trial
- Brain-cognition relationships and treatment outcome in treatment-resistant late-life depression.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Circuitry at the Intersection of Cognition and Disease.Biological psychiatry · 2026Review
- Resting-State Functional Connectivity Changes Associated With Post-Traumatic Stress and Anxiety Symptoms in North Korean Refugees.Psychiatry investigation · 2026Article
- Frontocingulate-parietal-limbic circuits associated with both ruminative brooding and self-regulatory processes.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Changes in Neural Activities and Neuroplasticity Related to Nonpharmacological Interventions for Major Depressive Disorder: A Systematic Literature Review.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Review
- Lycopene Alleviates Depression-Like Behavior in Chronic Social Defeat Stress-Induced Mice by Promoting Synaptic Plasticity via the BDNF-TrkB Pathway.Food science & nutrition · 2025Article
- Breakthroughs and challenges for generating brain network-based biomarkers of treatment response in depression.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Review
- The Role of Subgenual Resting-State Connectivity Networks in Predicting Prognosis in Major Depressive Disorder.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2024Article
- Functional neuroimaging biomarkers of anhedonia response to escitalopram plus adjunct aripiprazole treatment for major depressive disorder.BJPsych open · 2024Article
- Neuroanatomical dimensions in medication-free individuals with major depressive disorder and treatment response to SSRI antidepressant medications or placebo.Nature. Mental health · 2024Article
- Altered functional connectivity between cortical networks associated with inhibitory control in trauma-exposed females.Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging · 2023Article
- Intrinsic Connectivity Networks of Glutamate-Mediated Antidepressant Response: A Neuroimaging Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Review
- A perspective on translating genomic discoveries into targets for brain-machine interface and deep brain stimulation devices.WIREs mechanisms of diseaseArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMajor depressive disorder is associated with abnormal connectivity across emotion and reward circuits as well as other established circuits that may negatively impact treatment response. The goal of this study was to perform an exploratory reanalysis of archival data from a clinical trial to identify moderators of treatment outcome of sertraline over placebo.
methodsEMBARC (Establishing Moderators and Biosignatures of Antidepressant Response in Clinical Care) study participants completed magnetic resonance imaging before randomization to either sertraline or placebo for 8 weeks (n = 279). Seed-based functional connectivity was computed using 4 bilateral seeds (2 spheres defined bilaterally): amygdala, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), subcallosal cingulate cortex, and ventral striatum. Functional connectivity maps were generated, principal component analysis was performed, linear mixed effects models were used to determine moderators of treatment outcome, and post hoc analyses were used to determine level of connectivity (low and high, -1 and +1 SD from the mean) that was most sensitive to improved depression severity (baseline to week 8) based on treatment.
resultsGreater mean reduction in the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score by 8 weeks occurred with sertraline relative to placebo when connectivity in the DLPFC was low (3-way interaction test, p = .05). Conditional on low connectivity in the DLPFC and subcallosal cingulate cortex and high connectivity in the ventral striatum and amygdala, there was on average a 4.8-point greater reduction in the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score with sertraline relative to placebo (p = .003).
conclusionsThe level of functional connectivity seeded in both the DLPFC and the subcallosal cingulate cortex networks may play an important role in identifying a favorable response to sertraline over placebo.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.