Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40021211›Full record

Trial reportBMJ mental health2025

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

Fatemeh Gholamali Nezhad, Vanessa K Tassone, Yuelee Khoo, Michelle Wu, Qiaowei Lin, Ilya Demchenko, Reinhard Janssen-Aguilar, Amanda K Ceniti, Sakina J Rizvi, Wendy Lou and 5 more

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMJ mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Fatemeh Gholamali NezhadInterventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Vanessa K TassoneInterventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Yuelee KhooInterventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Michelle WuInterventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Qiaowei LinInterventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Ilya DemchenkoInterventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Reinhard Janssen-AguilarInterventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Amanda K CenitiArthur Sommer Rotenberg Suicide and Depression Studies Program, St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Sakina J RizviInstitute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Wendy LouDivision of Biostatistics, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Peter GiacobbeSunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Sidney H KennedyInstitute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Andres M LozanoKrembil Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Mary Pat McAndrews *Krembil Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Venkat Bhat *Interventional Psychiatry Program, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada venkat.bhat@utoronto.ca.ORCID 0000-0002-8768-1173

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe 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).

objectiveThis randomised controlled study aims to evaluate the neuropsychological effects of SCG-DBS.

methods35 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.

findingsNo 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 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.

Indexed as

CognitionDeep Brain StimulationDepressive Disorder, Treatment-ResistantGyrus CinguliAdultCross-Over StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeuropsychological TestsTreatment OutcomeDepressionPSYCHIATRY

Identifiers

PMID40021211
PMCPMC11873328

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.