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NCT06953362Completed

Deciphering Principles of Network Dynamics Underlying Depression Symptom Severity From Multi-day Intracranial Recordings in Patients With Major Depression

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 1 May 2025

Brief summary (registry, in English)

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is common and causes significant disability world-wide. While typically responsive to medications and therapy, there remain a subset of patients who are treatment resistant. Novel approaches are critical to treat these patients. MDD is likely caused by dysfunction in distributed neural networks, a perspective consistent with the etiological and diagnostic heterogeneity of this disorder. While imaging and electroencephalography (EEG) have helped identify MDD circuitry, no consensus has been reached on the identification of diagnostic biomarkers. Furthermore, the dynamics of MDD circuitry in relation to symptom severity is unknown. Characterization of circuit signatures that define MDD symptom severity states and the extent to which these circuits are modifiable using electrical stimulation are critical for therapeutic advancement. Intracranial EEG (iEEG) offers a high spatial and temporal resolution method to study depression networks. For the first time, we have an unparalleled opportunity to study such circuits in MDD patients participating in a clinical trial of personalized responsive neurostimulation for treatment resistant depression (PRESIDIO). In stage 1 of this trial, participants are implanted with 160 electrodes from 10 sub-chronic intracranial leads across 10 brain sites for 10 days. The goal of this parent study stage is to optimize brain-site targeting for deep brain stimulation. In the current project, we will leverage the opportunity to study MDD circuit principles from cortical and deep brain structures over a multi-day time period. In this ancillary study to the parent clinical trial, we carry out a set of experiments that establish basic principles of network dynamics underlying MDD from direct neural recordings. This study is organized around the principal concept that brain circuit dysfunction is reflected in abnormal signatures of functional connectivity and rhythmic local-field activity. This concept is supported by our pilot work where we found evidence of distinct MDD networks characterized by functional connectivity and spectral activity. This project builds on our preliminary findings in two aims. In Aim 1, we characterize state-dependent functional connectivity and spectral activity in relation to symptom severity. In Aim 2, we will examine the manner and time course in which targeted electrical stimulation acutely modifies circuits. Together, this research will yield the first characterization of connectivity and activity dynamics in MDD over a multi-day period from direct neural recordings. This rare insight into MDD circuity provided by this novel dataset establishes proof-of-concept principles for biomarker development and therapeutic target selection that could critically advance personalized MDD treatments.

Status (registry)
Completed
Study type
Observational
Enrollment
6 (actual)
First submitted
16 Nov 2023
Start date
1 Jan 2021
Primary completion date
31 Dec 2024
Lead sponsor
University of California, San Francisco
Diseases
Depression
NCT number
NCT06953362

What you commit to

  • Study type: Observational
  • Participants enrolled: 6
  • From 1 Jan 2021 to the primary completion date, 31 Dec 2024
  • 1 site in 1 country
  • Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them

Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.

Who cannot take part

Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.

Prior treatment

  • History of suicide attempt requiring hospitalization in previous 2 years
  • Meets criteria for alcohol or substance abuse or dependence (other than caffeine) in previous 6 months, determined by the SCID
  • Previous ablative intracranial surgery or previously implanted deep brain stimulation system or any previously implanted device treatment involving brain stimulation

Other illness

  • Meets DSM-V criteria for a psychotic disorder, eating disorder, panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, tic disorder, or another comorbid psychiatric disorder other than MDD or generalized anxiety disorder based on a SCID
  • Generalized anxiety disorder is the primary DSM-V disorder during the current MDD episode
  • Has a personality disorder based on the investigator's assessment that the investigator believes will adversely impact subject compliance or safety
  • Fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome
  • Current condition requiring chronic narcotic use
  • History of traumatic brain injury, another neurological disorder, or developmental delay
  • History of seizures
  • Allergies or known hypersensitivity to materials in the NeuroPace RNS® System (i.e. titanium, polyurethane, silicone, polyetherimide, stainless steel)
  • Significant cognitive impairment or dementia (Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) \< 25)

Lab values

  • Inability to stop Coumadin or platelet anti-aggregation therapy for surgery and after surgery

Age

  • Major medical co-morbidities increasing the risk of surgery including severe diabetes, major organ system failure, history of hemorrhagic stroke, need for chronic anticoagulation other than aspirin, active infection, intracranial space occupying lesion, increased intracranial pressure, cardiovascular accident within the last month, aneurysm abnormality, retinal detachment, unstable cardiovascular disease (recent MI, severe ischemia, severe or uncontrolled hypertension), immunocompromised state, or malignancy with \< 5 years life expectancy

Other

  • Active suicidal ideation with intent and plan as defined by a score of 5 on the Columbia suicide severity rating scale (C-SSRS)
  • MRI (done within one year of the first visit) with significant abnormalities
  • Implantable hardware not compatible with MRI or with the study
  • Coagulopathy. Patients will be excluded unless assessed and cleared by hematology
  • Subject lives alone without possibility of caregiver support post-hospital stay
  • Inability to comply with study follow-up visits
  • Women who are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or breast feeding
  • Inability to speak and/or read English
  • Inability to give consent

Who the study is looking for

  • Meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-V (DSM-V) diagnostic criteria for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) without psychosis based on a Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-V (SCID)
  • Current episode ≥ 2 years
  • Treatment-resistant (4 adequate trials including electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)), 3 classes of medications, one augmentation strategy, psychotherapy) as measured by the antidepressant treatment history form (ATHF)
  • Failed ECT due to inability to achieve sustained response (2 failed attempts to discontinue ECT treatment) or discontinued due to intolerable side effects
  • Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score of \> 26 at both baseline and screening visit
  • Presence of variability on repeated administrations of depression rating scales (minimum of 2-point variation on the HAMD-6 administered 3 times a day for 3 days), which is required for the identification of a neural biomarker
  • No changes to psychotropic medication regimen during the 4 weeks prior to entry into and the duration of the study
  • Willing and able to undergo invasive brain recording/stimulation study
  • Willing and able to attend multiple research visits and perform at-home research protocol
  • Willing and able to provide informed consent
  • Ability to speak and read English

Age in the registry: 22 months to 70 years · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers

Full criteria on ClinicalTrials.gov

Sites (1)

Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.

SiteCityCountrySite status
UCSF
Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status
San FranciscoUnited StatesUnknown status

This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.