Hippocampal Dentate Gyrus Plasticity and Its Association With Dimensional Clinical Improvement Across Four Depression Treatment Interventions

This study investigates the longitudinal effects of four depression treatment interventions on the volume of the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) and its relationship with clinical and cognitive outcomes in patients with major depressive disorder. The findings indicate that while treatment generally increases DG volume, this change is particularly pronounced in patients receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and correlates specifically with improvements in core depressive symptoms, suggesting that DG plasticity may reflect mechanisms unique to ECT rather than a common pathway across all treatments.