Miki Matsunaga

Rostral anterior cingulate cortex activity mediates the relationship between the depressive symptoms and the medial prefrontal cortex activity

BACKGROUND Depression is characterized by enhanced self-referential processing of negative emotional stimuli. Imaging studies have suggested that activation of both the medial prefrontal (MPFC) and anterior cingulate cortices (ACC) is associated with self-referential processing. However, whether this pattern of activation occurs in depressed individuals during the self-referential processing of the emotional stimuli had not been investigated to date. METHODS Participants were 13 patients with major depressive disorder and 13 normal controls. We used block-designed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate neural activity during the self-referential judgments of positive and negative valenced personality trait words. RESULTS Compared with the normal controls, the depressed patients showed hyperactivity in the MPFC and the rostral ACC during the self-referential processing of negative words. In addition, the activity of these regions during self-referential processing of the negative stimuli was correlated with the depressive symptom severity. The rostral ACC activity mediated the correlation between the MPFC activity and the depressive symptoms. Functional connectivity analysis revealed positive connectivities between the MPFC, the rostral ACC, and the amygdala. LIMITATION Small N and antidepressant effect on imaging data limit the stability of reported findings. CONCLUSIONS The relationships between the MPFC, the rostral ACC, and the amygdala appear to reflect an interaction between the self-referential processing and the negative emotional information processing, and we propose that the strong connection between the MPFC and the rostral ACC is associated with depressive symptoms.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for depression changes medial prefrontal and ventral anterior cingulate cortex activity associated with self-referential processing

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), an effective treatment for depression, targets self-referential processing of emotional stimuli. We examined the effects of CBT on brain functioning during self-referential processing in depressive patients using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Depressive patients (n = 23) and healthy participants (n = 15) underwent fMRI scans during a self-referential task using emotional trait words. The depressive patients had fMRI scans before and after completing a total of 12 weekly sessions of group CBT for depression, whereas the healthy participants underwent fMRI scans 12 weeks apart with no intervention. Before undergoing CBT, the depressive patients showed hyperactivity in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) during self-referential processing of negative words. Following CBT, MPFC and ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC) activity during self-referential processing among depressive patients was increased for positive stimuli, whereas it was decreased for negative stimuli. Improvements in depressive symptoms were negatively correlated with vACC activity during self-referential processing of negative stimuli. These results suggest that CBT-related improvements in depressive symptoms are associated with changes in MPFC and vACC activation during self-referential processing of emotional stimuli.

Psychosocial functioning in patients with treatment-resistant depression after group cognitive behavioral therapy

BackgroundAlthough patients with Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD) often have impaired social functioning, few studies have investigated the effectiveness of psychosocial treatment for these patients. We examined whether adding group cognitive behavioral therapy (group-CBT) to medication would improve both the depressive symptoms and the social functioning of patient with mild TRD, and whether any improvements would be maintained over one year.MethodsForty-three patients with TRD were treated with 12 weekly sessions of group-CBT. Patients were assessed with the Global Assessment of Functioning scale (GAF), the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS), and the Automatic Thought Questionnaire-Revised (ATQ-R) at baseline, at the termination of treatment, and at the 12-month follow-up.ResultsThirty-eight patients completed treatment; five dropped out. For the patients who completed treatment, post-treatment scores on the GAF and SF-36 were significantly higher than baseline scores. Scores on the HRSD, DAS, and ATQ-R were significantly lower after the treatment. Thus patients improved on all measurements of psychosocial functioning and mood symptoms. Twenty patients participated in the 12-month follow-up. Their improvements for psychosocial functioning, depressive symptoms, and dysfunctional cognitions were sustained at 12 months following the completion of group-CBT.ConclusionsThese findings suggest a positive effect that the addition of cognitive behavioural group therapy to medication on depressive symptoms and social functioning of mildly depressed patients, showing treatment resistance.

Cognitive behavioral therapy changes functional connectivity between medial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices

BACKGROUND Depression is characterized by negative self-cognition. Our previous study (Yoshimura et al. 2014) revealed changes in brain activity after cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression, but changes in functional connectivity were not assessed. METHOD This study included 29 depressive patients and 15 healthy control participants. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging was used to investigate possible CBT-related functional connectivity changes associated with negative emotional self-referential processing. Depressed and healthy participants (overlapping with our previous study, Yoshimura et al. 2014) were included. We defined a seed region (medial prefrontal cortex) and coupled region (ACC) based on our previous study, and we examined changes in MPFC-ACC functional connectivity from pretreatment to posttreatment. RESULTS CBT was associated with reduced functional connectivity between the MPFC and ACC. Symptom change with CBT was positively correlated with change in MPFC-ACC functional connectivity. LIMITATIONS Patients received pharmacotherapy including antidepressant. The present sample size was quite small and more study is needed. Statistical threshold in fMRI analysis was relatively liberal. CONCLUSIONS CBT for depression may disrupt MPFC-ACC connectivity, with associated improvements in depressive symptoms and dysfunctional cognition.

“Rework Program” in Japan: Innovative high-level rehabilitation

Introduction: The aim of this paper is to report on the Rework Program, a type of high‐level rehabilitation program developed in Japan, and on Cognitive‐Behavioral Group Therapy for Rework (CBGTR), which was also developed in Japan.

A sound-based measurement of sway angle for anti-sway control of overhead crane

For anti-swing control of overhead crane, a deflection angle must be estimated. However, it is difficult to estimate deflection angles with a contact sensor such as rotary encoder. Therefore, we show a non-contact measurement method for the deflection angles by using two microphones. This method is based on the sound source location in a human with two ears. The method employs a time delay of arrival (TDOA) of acoustic signals which are picked up by the two microphones. Also, we show an algorithm to obtain the angle from the TDOA by using the Newtons method. Finally, we show experimental results to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

F-MRI analysis using self-referential negative emotion task on the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy for depressive patients

The asymmetry diminished in the 1-BP offspring, respectively. On the other hand, the right-left difference of PPRs of fEPSP appeared in the 13 week-old 1-BP rats (p < 0.05 by Student’s t test at 10 and 20 ms interpulse intervals). Our results indicate that modulation of right-left asymmetry of hippocampal excitability in the offspring prenatally exposed to 1-BP may occur in the early period after birth and last after maturation. Research fund: KAKENHI (20591237).