Researchers at Stanford Medicine have identified six biological subtypes of depression using brain imaging and machine learning, paving the way for precision psychiatry. Results indicate that certain antidepressants and behavioral therapies are more effective for specific subtypes, offering hope for more targeted and effective treatment strategies. Credit: SciTechDaily.com.
That’s in part because there’s no good way to know which antidepressant or type of therapy could help a given patient. Medications are prescribed through a trial-and-error method, so it can take months or years to land on a drug that works — if it ever happens. And spending so long trying treatment after treatment, only to experience no relief, can worsen depression symptoms.
The scientists also randomly assigned 250 of the study participants to receive one of three commonly used antidepressants or behavioral talk therapy. Patients with one subtype, which is characterized by overactivity in cognitive regions of the brain, experienced the best response to the antidepressant venlafaxine compared with those who have other biotypes.