Neuroimaging biomarkers of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment response in medication-refractory depression =: 查找重複性透顱磁力腦刺激(rTMS)在抗藥性抑鬱症應用中的神經造影生理指標 ; 查找重複性透顱磁力腦刺激(rTMS)在抗藥性抑鬱症應用中的神經造影生理指標 ; Neuroimaging biomarkers of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment response in medication-refractory depression =: Cha zhao chong fu xing tou lu ci li nao ci ji (rTMS) zai kang yao xing yi yu zheng ying yong zhong de shen jing zao ying sheng li zhi biao ; Cha zhao chong fu xing tou lu ci li nao ci ji (rTMS) zai kang yao xing yi yu zheng ying yong zhong de shen jing zao ying sheng li zhi biao

Ph.D. ; Background: Previous studies suggest that functional connectivity between the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) may serve as a predictive biomarker for the antidepressant effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the left DLPFC, but methodological decisions could have influenced these findings as a controversial preprocessing method was applied. The aim of this thesis was to validate the predictive value of DLPFC-sgACC functional connectivity on rTMS treatment response. Since structural connectivity mediates functional connectivity either directly or indirectly, it was examined whether white matter structural integrity was associated with rTMS treatment response. Reliable neuroimaging biomarkers of rTMS treatment response may guide patients and clinicians to make better-informed treatment decisions and may contribute to the development of more personalised neuroimaging-guided rTMS. ; Methods: Multiple regression with backward elimination and growth curve analyses were performed to examine whether DLPFC-sgACC functional and structural connectivity were associated with rTMS treatment response at week 4 or week 12 or could explain between-subject differences in depressive symptom score trajectories (n = 69). Seed-to-voxel analyses with left DLPFC and sgACC as seed regions and tract-based spatial statistics were performed to examine other potential functional and structural connectivity biomarkers of rTMS treatment response, respectively. ; Results: DLPFC-sgACC connectivity was not significantly associated with rTMS treatment outcome and the clinical significance of the polynomial effects in the growth curve analysis were negligible. Results of the seed-to-voxel analyses showed that sgACC connectivity with one cluster in the the frontal pole, orbitofrontal cortex and insular cortex was associated with rTMS treatment response at week 12 regardless of the applied preprocessing method. The other observed clusters highly depended ...