Published September 27, 2026, in Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry, this prospective cohort followed 204 patients receiving four weeks of left-prefrontal rTMS for depression.
A precision-treatment question Before treatment, diffusion MRI was used to estimate rich-club connection strength and network modularity. Patients who did not respond or remit had lower values on both measures. The subgroup low on both measures had the poorest outcomes and less network reorganization in a repeated-scan subset.
What the model adds A model combining clinical and imaging information discriminated response and remission better than clinical information alone. The abstract does not report AUCs, calibration, decision thresholds or an independent validation cohort, so this is an association study rather than a ready-to-use selection test.
Why it matters The work points toward identifying patients who may need a different strategy or closer monitoring before a full treatment course. Prospective replication must show that using the marker actually improves decisions and outcomes.
Source and disclosure Authoritative abstract checked. The PubMed record reports no known competing financial interests or personal relationships; funding details were unavailable in the indexed record. Prepared with AI assistance and source-checked September 28, 2026.