Developing Brain Imaging Analysis Expertise for Personalizing Transcranial Electric Stimulation in Anhedonia Treatment of Patients With Bipolar Depression

Developing Brain Imaging Analysis Expertise for Personalizing Transcranial Electric Stimulation in Anhedonia Treatment of Patients With Bipolar Depression

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) will engage reward-related brain circuitry, more specifically the uncinate fasciculus (UF) tract, which connects the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAcc) regions. Also to evaluate whether the changes in the fractional anisotropy (FA) of the UF tract are associated with changes of clinical symptoms of anhedonia and finally to investigate the moderation role of simulated electric fields (EFs) in an association between FA of the UF and symptoms of anhedonia.

Inclusion Criteria:

• diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder and clinically significant anhedonia
• mild symptoms of depression

Exclusion Criteria:

• substance abuse/dependence and any use of drugs (except alcohol or nicotine) in the previous month of the baseline assessment
• participants with personality disorder that would interfere with study participation according to clinical judgment
• previous neurological conditions (epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, stroke, etc)
• any severe, life-threatening non-psychiatric medical condition
• specific contraindications for tDCS (metallic plates in the head)
• Participants identified as acutely suicidal or severely agitated