Suppressed activity of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex as a biomarker for depression remission

Abstract

Background Suppression of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) has shown promise as a prognostic biomarker for depression. We aimed to use machine learning to characterise its ability to predict depression remission. Methods Data were obtained from 81 15- to 25-year-olds with a major depressive disorder who had participated in the YoDA-C trial, in which they had been randomised to receive cognitive behavioural therapy plus either fluoxetine or placebo. Prior to commencing treatment patients performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task to assess rACC suppression. Support vector machines were trained on the fMRI data using nested cross-validation, and were similarly t..