Page 120 - MEGIN Book Of Abstracts - 2023

School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; Medical Research Germany; Department of Psychiatry, Melbourne Medical
Council (MRC) Brain Network Dynamics Unit at the University School, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia;
of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The
University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

ABSTRACT Lateral habenula is believed to encode INTRODUCTION VNS is a non-pharmalogical neu-
negative motivational stimuli and plays key roles in romodulatory treatment option for difficult-to-treat
the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. How- depression. A pulse generator implanted in the left
ever, how habenula activities are modulated during chest area is connected to an electrode that is wrapped
the processing of emotional information is still poorly around the left vagal nerve. It is presumed, that the
understood. We recorded local field potentials from vagal afferent network modulates neuronal activity in
bilateral habenula areas with simultaneous cortical key monoaminergic structures.
magnetoencephalography in nine patients with psy-
chiatric disorders during an emotional picture-viewing METHODS We performed MEG recording during active
task. Transient activity in the theta/alpha band (5-10 stimulation of the left vagal nerve. Our patient was a 60
Hz) within the habenula and prefrontal cortical regions, years old female treated with VNS since December 2019
as well as the coupling between these structures, is due to unipolar major depression.
increased during the perception and processing of neg-
ative emotional stimuli compared to positive emotional RESULTS MEG recording and analysis were possible
stimuli. The increase in theta/alpha band synchroniza- despite stimulation signals and the metal stimulation
tion in the frontal cortex-habenula network correlated systems. We saw a reproducible reduction of the 10-Hz-
with the emotional valence but not the arousal score alpha amplitude after the end of the 30 s stimulation
of the stimuli. These results provide direct evidence for period in wide-spread areas including parieto-occipital
increased theta/alpha synchrony within the habenula cortex where alpha oscillations are prominently gener-
area and prefrontal cortex-habenula network in the ated. During stimulation, however, alpha oscillations
perception of negative emotion in human participants. remained unaffected. These findings could be repro-
duced in a second measurement.
Keywords: deep brain stimulation, depression, emo-
tional stimuli, habenula, human, neuroscience, prefrontal CONCLUSION Increased alpha power was linked to
cortex-habenula network, theta / alpha oscillations depressive states and alterations of cortical activity. A
reduction may indicate cortical activation by stimula-
eLife (2021), Vol. 10 (34251338) (4 citations) tion of the vagal nerve as a possible mechanism of
action of VNS in depression.

Acute effect of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) on Keywords: DTD, Difficult-to-treat depression, MEG, Magne-
brain function (2021) toencephalography, TRD, Treatment-resistant depression,
VNS, Vagus nerve stimulation
Kavakbasi, Erhan; Gross, Joachim; Wollbrink, Andreas;
Fellmeth, Ruth; Baune, Bernhard T Journal of psychiatric research (2021), Vol. 141 (34198194)
(3 citations)
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Münster,
University of Münster, Münster, Germany. Electronic address:
[email protected]; Institute for Biomagnetism
and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Muenster, Univer-
sity of Münster, Münster, Germany; Department of Psychiatry,
University Hospital Münster, University of Münster, Münster,

 ontents  Index 99
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