Increased thalamic gray matter volume induced by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment in patients with major depressive disorder

Purpose Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is an effective therapy in improving depressive symptoms in MDD patients, but the intrinsic mechanism is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the influence of rTMS on brain gray matter volume for alleviating depressive symptoms in MDD patients using structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data. Methods Patients with first episode, unmedicated patients with MDD ( n = 26), and healthy controls ( n = 31) were selected for this study. Depressive symptoms were assessed before and after treatment by using the HAMD-17 score. High-frequency rTMS treatment was conducted in patients with MDD over 15 days. The rTMS treatment target is located at the F3 point of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data were collected before and after treatment to compare the changes in brain gray matter volume. Results Before treatment, patients with MDD had significantly reduced gray matter volumes in the right fusiform gyrus, left and right inferior frontal gyrus (triangular part), left inferior frontal gyrus (orbital part), left parahippocampal gyrus, left thalamus, right precuneus, right calcarine fissure, and right median cingulate gyrus compared with healthy controls ( P < 0.05). After rTMS treatment, significant growth in gray matter volume of the bilateral thalamus was observed in depressed patients ( P < 0.05). Conclusion Bilateral thalamic gray matter volumes were enlarged in the thalamus of MDD patients after rTMS treatment and may be the underlying neural mechanism for the treatment of rTMS on depression.