Leslie Baxter1, Gary Grove2, Ryan Smith1, Perri Handley1, Michael Purcell1, Francisco Ponce3, Robert Spetzler3
1Neuroimaging Research, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, United States; 2Private Practice, Scottsdale, AZ, United States; 3Neurosurgery, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, United States
Deep Brain Stimulation is a new intervention for treating severe depression; however, response rates may be improved with fMRI if the region in the dysfunctional subgenual cingulate is better targeted. We developed a novel fMRI sadness induction paradigm that collects standardized blocks of data within a flexible-block design. Specifically, when subjects attain the targeted emotional state (sad or neutral), they trigger a standardized 30 block through a button press. Only those blocks are analyzed in the post-processing steps. Our preliminary data show that depressed patients can perform this task and generally show greater subgenual responsivity compared to controls.