PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Gerd Wagner
AU  - Kathrin Koch
AU  - Claudia Schachtzabel
AU  - Thomas Sobanski
AU  - Jürgen R. Reichenbach
AU  - Heinrich Sauer
AU  - Ralf G.M. Schlösser
TI  - Differential effects of serotonergic and noradrenergic antidepressants on brain activity during a cognitive control task and neurofunctional prediction of treatment outcome in patients with depression
AID  - 10.1503/jpn.090081
DP  - 2010 Jul 01
TA  - Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
PG  - 247--257
VI  - 35
IP  - 4
4099  - http://jpn.ca/content/35/4/247.short
4100  - http://jpn.ca/content/35/4/247.full
SO  - J Psychiatry Neurosci2010 Jul 01; 35
AB  - Background: We investigated the differential effects of serotonergic and noradrenergic antidepressants on brain activation in patients with major depressive disorder during a Stroop task. We predicted that pretreatment hyperactivity in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex would predict better treatment outcomes.Methods: In total, 20 patients underwent naturalistic open-label clinical treatment with citalopram (n = 12) or reboxetine (n = 8). We performed functional magnetic resonance imaging at baseline and after 6 weeks of treatment.Results: There were no significant group differences in clinical characteristics, treatment outcomes or baseline fMRI activations. The group by time interaction revealed significant voxels in the right amygdala–hippocampus complex (p < 0.05, family-wise error corrected by use of the bilateral amygdala and hippocampus mask image as a small volume), indicating a posttreatment blood oxygen level–dependent signal decrease in the citalopram group. Pretreatment hyperactivity in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex was not related to symptom improvement.Limitations: Our study was a nonrandomized clinical trial.Conclusion: These results indicate that serotonergic and noradrenergic antidepressants have a differential effect on brain activity, especially in the amygdala and hippocampus.