Publications (2)12.38 Total impact
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Article: Motor cortex excitability after vagus nerve stimulation in major depression.
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ABSTRACT: Recent data suggest that inhibitory pathways may be involved in the pathophysiology of depression and in the mode of action of some antidepressant interventions. The aim of the present study was to test whether vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) can affect motor cortex excitability. Measures of motor cortical excitability were probed by using single-pulse and paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation at baseline, after 10 weeks of left VNS, and additionally, in an on-off paradigm in 10 patients with treatment-resistant unipolar depression. Ten weeks of VNS was associated with a selective and pronounced increase in intracortical inhibition, whereas no changes occurred in the on-off paradigm. These results suggest that VNS is capable of changing motor cortical excitability in patients with depression.Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology 05/2007; 27(2):156-9. · 4.10 Impact Factor -
Article: Evidence for impaired cortical inhibition in patients with unipolar major depression.
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ABSTRACT: Several lines of evidence suggest that central cortical inhibitory mechanisms, especially associated with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission, may play a role in the pathophysiology of major depression. Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a useful tool for investigating central cortical inhibitory mechanisms associated with GABAergic neurotransmission in psychiatric and neurological disorders. By means of transcranial magnetic stimulation, different parameters of cortical excitability, including motor threshold, the cortical silent period, and intracortical inhibition/facilitation, were investigated in 20 medication-free depressed patients and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers. Silent period and intracortical inhibition were reduced in depressed patients, consistent with a reduced GABAergic tone. Moreover, patients showed a significant hemispheric asymmetry in motor threshold. This study provides evidence of reduced GABAergic tone and motor threshold asymmetry in patients with major depression.Biological Psychiatry 04/2006; 59(5):395-400. · 8.28 Impact Factor
