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Abstract #0739

1 H MRS Demonstrates Elevations of Prefrontal Cortex GABA in Major Depressive Disorder after Treatment with Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Marc J Dubin 1 , Xiangling Mao 2 , Samprit Banerjee 3 , Rebecca Gordon 4 , Zachary Goodman 5 , Kyle AB Lapidus 6 , Guoxin Kang 2 , Conor Liston 1 , and Dikoma C Shungu 2

1 Psychiatry & Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States, 2 Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States, 3 Healthcare Policy and Research, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States, 4 Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States, 5 Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, 6 Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States

Although repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is an effective treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), its antidepressant mechanisms are unclear. This study investigated the potential involvement of GABA and glutamate in the antidepressant mechanism of rTMS. Patients with MDD underwent a 5-week treatment of rTMS, with 1 H MRS measurements of prefrontal GABA and Glx pre- and post-treatment. After rTMS treatment, prefrontal GABA increased 12.3% in all depressed subjects and 18.3% in subjects with partial or full responses. Glx was unchanged. These results seem to implicate GABAergic and glutamatergic systems in the antidepressant mechanism of action of rTMS.

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