Changes in regional homogeneity of parieto-temporal regions in panic disorder patients who achieved remission with antidepressant treatment

Objective This study was aimed to study the treatment effects of antidepressant for regional homogeneity (ReHo), an indicator of synchronization of brain function, in panic disorder (PD) patients. Method Twenty-one remitted PD patients with escitalopram treatment and 21 healthy controls all received 3-T magnetic resonance imaging scanning at baseline and sixth week. We utilized REST (Resting State FMRI Data Analysis Toolkit, version 1.4) to calculate regional homogeneity (ReHo) of patients and controls at baseline and sixth week. We compared the ReHo at baseline with the ReHo at sixth week to estimate the treatment effects for the ReHo of remitted patients. Besides, inter-scan effects were evaluated in the control group. The group-related differences between remitted patients and controls were also estimated. Results Remitted PD patients had increases in ReHo of right Heschl gyrus (superior temporal lobe) and decreases in ReHo of right angular gyrus (parietal lobe). The improvements in severity of panic symptoms were negatively correlated with the changes of ReHo in right superior parietal lobe. However, remitted patients still had lower ReHo than controls in right Heschl gyrus and left thalamus. Conclusion The changes in ReHo of temporo-parietal regions might represent treatment-related ReHo changes for remission of PD. The residual alterations in ReHo of temporo-thalamic regions might represent group-related ReHo differences for patients with PD.