Neural and behavioral markers of inhibitory control predict symptom improvement during internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for depression

Poor inhibitory control contributes to deficits in emotion regulation, which are often targeted by treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD), including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Brain regions that contribute to inhibitory control and emotion regulation overlap; thus, inhibitory control might relate to response to CBT. In this study, we examined whether baseline inhibitory control and resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) within overlapping emotion regulation–inhibitory control regions predicted treatment response to internet-based CBT (iCBT). Participants with MDD were randomly assigned to iCBT (N=30) or a monitored attention control (MAC) condition (N=30). Elastic net regression was used to predict post-treatment Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores from baseline variables, including demographic variables, PHQ-9 scores, Flanker effects (interference, sequential dependency, post-error slowing), and rsFC between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, bilateral anterior insula (AI), and right temporoparietal junction (TPJ). Essential prognostic predictor variables retained in the elastic net regression included treatment group, gender, Flanker interference response time (RT), right AI–TPJ rsFC, and left AI–right AI rsFC. Prescriptive predictor variables retained included interactions between treatment group and baseline PHQ-9 scores, age, gender, Flanker RT, sequential dependency effects on accuracy, post-error accuracy, right AI–TPJ rsFC, and left AI–right AI rsFC. Inhibitory control and rsFC within inhibitory control–emotion regulation regions predicted reduced symptom severity following iCBT, and these effects were stronger in the iCBT group than in the MAC group. These findings contribute to a growing literature indicating that stronger inhibitory control at baseline predicts better outcomes to psychotherapy, including iCBT.

Michelle Thai, Elizabeth A. Olson, Stefanie Nickels, Daniel G. Dillon, Christian A. Webb, Boyu Ren, William D. S. Killgore, Scott L. Rauch, Isabelle M. Rosso, Diego A. Pizzagalli