Can brain scans tell us how successful CBT for anxiety will be? Meta-analysis of task-based fMRI studies shows promise

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Millie Lowther, Isabel Luetkenherm, Carlos Mena and Alexandra Pike summarise a recent fMRI meta-analysis, which finds that activation in brain circuits related to salience, interoception and emotional processing were found to predict a positive response to CBT in anxiety disorders.

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Pulpitis – How effective are diagnostic tests?

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This review of clinical tests for the diagnosis of the condition of the dental pulp included 28 studies from 29 publications. The quality of the included studies was low providing limited scientific evidence regarding the accuracy and reproducibility of diagnostic tests.

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Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for depression

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In her debut blog, Éimear Foley reviews a recent meta-analysis that identifies possible differences between people experiencing depression and healthy controls.

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Deep brain stimulation for severe depression: could ‘brain pacemakers’ be the answer for some?

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Alexandra Pike, Alexis An Yee Low and Jonathan Roiser critically appraise a recent n-of-1 study on ‘brain pacemakers for depression’, which received extensive press coverage earlier this month. The case study looks at deep brain stimulation (closed-loop neuromodulation) in an individual with treatment-resistant depression.

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Can ketamine metabolites and gamma power help predict clinical response for ‘treatment resistant depression’?

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Anya Borissova summarises a recent randomised placebo-controlled trial that evaluated ketamine metabolites, clinical response, and gamma power for major depression.

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Improving antidepressant outcomes: what works for whom and why?

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Thalia Eley and Gerome Breen explore a new systematic meta-review of predictors of antidepressant treatment outcome in depression, which looks at clinical and demographic variables, but also biomarkers including both genetic and neuroimaging data.

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Risk factors and peripheral biomarkers for schizophrenia spectrum disorders

This 'umbrella review' aimed to systematically appraise the meta-analyses of observational studies on risk factors and peripheral biomarkers for schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Marcus Munafo considers the findings of a systematic review of meta-analyses of observational studies, which looks at risk factors and peripheral biomarkers for psychotic disorders on the schizophrenia spectrum.

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Salivary biomarkers for diagnosing periodontal disease

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This review of salivary biomarkers for diagnosing periodontal disease only identified 4 studies at high risk of bias but suggests a small number of potential biomarkers. However the findings should be interpreted with caution.

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Rise of the machine learning algorithm: the future of diagnosing schizophrenia?

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Samei Huda reviews a meta-analysis of multivariate pattern recognition studies, which aims to detect neuroimaging biomarkers for schizophrenia.

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Can fMRI measuring striatal connectivity help predict response to antipsychotics?

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Samei Huda steps into George Clooney’s shoes to discuss baseline striatal functional connectivity as a predictor of response to antipsychotic drug treatment.

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