# My Brain Scan



## azteca2 (Apr 8, 2016)

So I had a brain scan taken this morning. I had SPECT imaging to show my brain metabolism. I should find out the results tomorrow. Hoping this will show if I will respond to TMS therapy or not. And if what I have is really even depersonalization.


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## dope (Aug 31, 2016)

I hope it reveals something important, and hopefully it will have the results you want!


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## azteca2 (Apr 8, 2016)

Hoping to see between 3 options. 1. If I have overactive mpfc. More related to depression. 2.. or if I have overactive Right VL PFC, shown in DP with emotional numbing and would probably respond to TMS. Or 3. the last option, with general underactivity of the pfc. If this is the case I may try hyperbaric oxygen therapy or try to move to Europe to be part of the deep brain stimulation trial of the VTA area of the brain.


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## TDX (Jul 12, 2014)

> Or 3. the last option, with general underactivity of the pfc.


I think this could be possible in people with the emotional numbing/blank mind combination. MichaelTheAnhedonic seems to be an example. But this could mean that dopaminergic medications could help against the symptoms to a degree.



> If this is the case I may try hyperbaric oxygen therapy


HBO is used for all kinds of stuff, but it has shown efficacy only for certain indications. For example when you have a diving accident HBO is for you, but for mental disorders it is likely useless.



> or try to move to Europe to be part of the deep brain stimulation trial of the VTA area of the brain.


If you get a diagnosis of treatment-resistant depression you might try it. I can recommend Germany, where the university of Bonn is currently doing a large scale trial with a very promosing protocol. But there is one downside: You have to try a minimum of 7 sessions of bilateral electroconvulsive therapy. Only if you don't respond to it you can be eligible.


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## azteca2 (Apr 8, 2016)

Oh wow I didn't know about the ECT requirement. And hyperbaric oxygen would probably be a stretch, idk if my symptoms are due to any physical damage. And I can't remember michaels story, I remember he had degeneration on his MRI but can't remember why.


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## Pondererer (May 18, 2016)

what a coincidence, i had an MR scan today.

I've had this for so long and have been through all DP has to offer, and at this point i wouldn't be surprised if they told me: Sir, there's a problem, your brain is missing!"

I would literally be like yeah that makes sense, and it wouldnt bother me the slighest. Nothing is a real worry compared to DP.


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## azteca2 (Apr 8, 2016)

When do you find out your results? And if it doesn't show much you might want to consider SPECT imaging.


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## TDX (Jul 12, 2014)

> Oh wow I didn't know about the ECT requirement.


I suppose all DBS studies require you to be resistant to ECT. DBS is intended to be the last last resort, because it is an invasive treatment with a certain element of risk.



> And I can't remember michaels story, I remember he had degeneration on his MRI but can't remember why.


My guess would that nobody knows why his MRI is abnormal. But having these symptoms with an abnormal MRI without any apparent cause is probably rare.


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## MichaelTheAnhedonic (Aug 31, 2016)

My scan revealed lower activity in right frontal lobe and left brain hemishphere. But I am not diagnosed with DPDR, just sharing similar symptoms (read description).


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## azteca2 (Apr 8, 2016)

Just got my scan results. It showed some decreased activity on the underside of the surface of the frontal lobes. But did also show overactive Right medial pfc, which might correlate more with people with higher levels of anhedonia who have depression. He said he didn't see the high level of activity in the Right VL pfc that is associated with the numbness in depersonalization.


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## azteca2 (Apr 8, 2016)

Did you have your scan at Amen Clincs Michael?


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## HopingCat36 (Jun 17, 2017)

azteca2 said:


> Just got my scan results. It showed some decreased activity on the underside of the surface of the frontal lobes. But did also show overactive Right medial pfc, which might correlate more with people with higher levels of anhedonia who have depression. He said he didn't see the high level of activity in the Right VL pfc that is associated with the numbness in depersonalization.


So does that mean you don't have Dp? and what does this test mean to you? Are you getting some type of help for the other stuff? Medicine?


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## azteca2 (Apr 8, 2016)

Not exactly sure what it means. I never really had a lot of the core symptoms of DP/DR , mainly just the numbness and feeling mentally empty. I may pursue TMS to try to address the mpfc area and maybe that would help.


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## MichaelTheAnhedonic (Aug 31, 2016)

azteca2 said:


> Did you have your scan at Amen Clincs Michael?


Nope, I did it in my country.

They didn't turn off the lights and my visual cortex is highly activated when looking at my results...

My unofficial diagnosis is: apathethic-abulic syndrome.

I'm thinking about rTMS to stimulate frontal lobe and see what happens.


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## TDX (Jul 12, 2014)

> Not exactly sure what it means. I never really had a lot of the core symptoms of DP/DR , mainly just the numbness and feeling mentally empty. I may pursue TMS to try to address the mpfc area and maybe that would help.


I'm not sure, but I think I've read that it is thought that in anhedonia the medial prefrontal might be overactive, because of some kind of compensational mechanism. This would mean that it is not the cause of your symptoms, but a consequence. But I could be wrong, so if you can get TMS and want to try it, then go for it.

There is also some evidence that Topiramate causes a decline of activity in areas of the prefrontal cortex. See for example:
http://cds.ismrm.org/ismrm-2006/files/00312.pdf

Some other fMRI studies confirmed these results, but the problem is that we don't know if this really affects areas that are of interest for us.



> So does that mean you don't have Dp? and what does this test mean to you? Are you getting some type of help for the other stuff? Medicine?


We don't know. But it is clear that emotional numbness and the blank mind often occur together in depersonalization disorder. These symptoms were also frequently described in the (scant) literature about it. Looking at the internet these symptoms seem to be most prevelant in depersonalization forums. They must in some way be related. But it was always a problem in psychiatry that disorders aren't as clearly defined as they should be. Depersonalization disorder has this problem as well. The boundaries of the disorder were never clearly defined. That's one of the reason why I accepted my official diagnosis of severe depression, but without keeping an eye on depersonalization disorder.


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## azteca2 (Apr 8, 2016)

He also wants me to get tested for Lyme disease. He said my general low activity in the frontal lobe combined with increased limbic system activity on my scan made him think it's possible that I could have Lyme


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

I've had MRI and CT, but i can't find much on SPECT, can anyone chuck me a ball point figure of what we are talking in Europe? google isn't getting me much for once. (sorry to hijack)


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## azteca2 (Apr 8, 2016)

It's about 1500 per scan in America. A lot of the clinic make you get it done twice


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