AI predicts effectiveness of antidepressants in patients: Study

Houston: Researchers use artificial intelligence (AI) to identify patterns of brain activity that make people less responsive to certain antidepressants. In two studies, one published in the journal American Journal of Psychiatry and another in Nature Human Behavior, the scientists showed they could use imaging of a patient's brain to decide whether a medication is likely to be effective. Both the studies include the latest findings from a large national trial -- EMBARC -- intended to establish objective strategies to treat mood disorders based on biology, and minimize the prescription of treatments in a trial and error fashion. The researchers, including those from UT Southwestern's Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care in the US, plan to develop a range of tests such as brain imaging and blood analyses to improve the odds of finding the best treatment for mood disorders. "We need to end the guessing game and find objective measures for prescribing interventions that will work," said Madhukar Trivedi, who oversees EMBARC.