UT Southwestern researchers are using EEG to determine whether an SSRI would effectively treat a person’s depression.
Part of the EMBARCproject, the studytracked 300 depressed patients who were given an 8 week course of an SSRI or a placebo. EEG recordings were taken before and after the trial. Higher rACC theta activity before treatment corresponded with greater treatment response to the antidepressant.
EMBARC director Madhukar Trivedi hopes that the EEG test, combined with his previous blood-biomarker guided drug choice work will dramatically improve accuracy in predicting whether common antidepressants will work for a patient.