As a neuroscientist I am particularly interested in the neurobiological mechanisms of major depressive disorders and their treatment with various forms of neurostimulation therapies

Leif Oltedal is a consultant neuroradiologist at Haukeland University Hospital and associate professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen in Norway. He  is center leader of MMIV research center for AI, translational and clinical research in medical imaging.

I lead the Neurostimulation and Brain imaging research group at the Department of Clinical Medicine in Bergen and research projects on electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) at MMIV. I am also the leader of the Global ECT-MRI Research Collaboration (GEMRIC), which is a network of researchers who use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the effects of ECT on the brain.

My research interests concern the structure and functioning of the human brain and spans from basic neuroscience disciplines such as anatomy and patch-clamp electrophysiology to clinical oriented research with neuroimaging in psychiatry and radiology. I am particularly interested in the mechanisms underlying mental disorders and how neurostimulation can be used as an effective therapeutic option. In radiology I am also involved in the development of novel MRI techniques for precision diagnostics or brain tumors (gliomas).  

For an overview of recent publications, please see Google Scholar:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=L_sc0DQAAAAJ

 

 

Vitenskapelig artikkel

• Olga Therese Ousdal; Miklos Argyelan; Maarten Laroy et al. (2025). Effects of electroconvulsive therapy on hippocampal longitudinal axis and its association with cognitive side effects. (ekstern lenke)
• Akihiro Takamiya; Frank Riemer; Vera Jane Erchinger et al. (2025). Acute and transient change in brain water content induced by a single electroconvulsive therapy session. (ekstern lenke)
• Freek ten Doesschate; Willem Bruin; Peter Zeidman et al. (2023). Effective resting-state connectivity in severe unipolar depression before and after electroconvulsive therapy. (ekstern lenke)
• Willem Benjamin Bruin; Leif Oltedal; Hauke Bartsch et al. (2023). Development and validation of a multimodal neuroimaging biomarker for electroconvulsive therapy outcome in depression: A multicenter machine learning analysis. (ekstern lenke)
• Maximilian Kiebs; Danielle C. Farrar; Antoine Yrondi et al. (2024). Electroconvulsive therapy and cognitive performance from the Global ECT MRI Research Collaboration. (ekstern lenke)
• Leila Marie Frid; Ute Kessler; Olga Therese Ousdal et al. (2023). Neurobiological mechanisms of ECT and TMS treatment in depression: study protocol of a multimodal magnetic resonance investigation. (ekstern lenke)
• L.A. van de Mortel; W.B. Bruin; R.M. Thomas et al. (2022). Multimodal multi-center analysis of electroconvulsive therapy effects in depression: Brainwide gray matter increase without functional changes. (ekstern lenke)
• Olga Therese Ousdal; Miklos Argyelan; Katherine L. Narr et al. (2019). Brain changes induced by electroconvulsive therapy are broadly distributed. (ekstern lenke)
• Margaret Lin Veruki; Leif Oltedal; Espen Hartveit (2010). Electrical coupling and passive membrane properties of AII amacrine cells. (ekstern lenke)
• Roshan A. Karunamuni; Nathan S. White; Annette Fromm et al. (2019). Improved characterization of cerebral infarction using combined tissue T2 and high b-value diffusion MRI in post-thrombectomy patients: a feasibility study. (ekstern lenke)
• Akihiro Takamiya; Annemiek Dols; Louise Emsell et al. (2021). Neural Substrates of Psychotic Depression: Findings From the Global ECT-MRI Research Collaboration. (ekstern lenke)
• Tore Ivar Malmei Aarsland; Ieva Leskauskaite; Øivind Midttun et al. (2019). The effect of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on serum tryptophan metabolites. (ekstern lenke)
• Erlend Skaga; Cassia Bree Trewin-Nybråten; Pitt Niehusmann et al. (2024). Stable glioma incidence and increased patient survival over the past two decades in Norway: a nationwide registry-based cohort study. (ekstern lenke)
• Leif Oltedal; Espen Hartveit (2010). Transient release kinetics of rod bipolar cells revealed by capacitance measurement of exocytosis from axon terminals in rat retinal slices. (ekstern lenke)
• Leif Oltedal; Kenneth Hugdahl (2016). Opposite brain laterality in analogous auditory and visual tests. (ekstern lenke)
• Benjamin Wade; Gerhard S. Hellemann; Randall Espinoza et al. (2021). Accounting for symptom heterogeneity can improve neuroimaging models of antidepressant response after electroconvulsive therapy. (ekstern lenke)
• Cassia Bree Trewin-Nybråten; Paul Lambert; Kirsten Marienhagen et al. (2025). Unveiling regional differences in glioblastoma patient survival with real-world data from the Norwegian brain tumor quality registry. (ekstern lenke)
• Leif Oltedal; Katherine L. Narr; Christopher Abbott et al. (2018). Volume of the Human Hippocampus and Clinical Response Following Electroconvulsive Therapy. (ekstern lenke)
• Miklos Argyelan; Zhi-De Deng; Olga Therese Ousdal et al. (2023). Electroconvulsive therapy-induced volumetric brain changes converge on a common causal circuit in depression. (ekstern lenke)
• H Hasegawa; ZF Yang; L Oltedal et al. (2004). Intramolecular protein-protein and protein-lipid interactions control the conformation and subcellular targeting of neuronal Ykt6. (ekstern lenke)
• Mohummad Aminur Rahman; Jorunn Brekke; Victoria Smith Arnesen et al. (2020). Sequential bortezomib and temozolomide treatment promotes immunological responses in glioblastoma patients with positive clinical outcomes: A phase 1B study. (ekstern lenke)
• Margaret Lin Veruki; Leif Oltedal; Espen Hartveit (2008). Electrical Synapses Between AII Amacrine Cells: Dynamic Range and Functional Consequences of Variation in Junctional Conductance. (ekstern lenke)
• Anette Knudsen; Geir Bredholt; Anette Margrethe Storstein et al. (2007). Antibodies to CRMP3-4 associated with limbic encephalitis and thymoma. (ekstern lenke)
• EO Vik-Mo; L Oltedal; EA Hoivik et al. (2003). Sec6 is localized to the plasma membrane of mature synaptic terminals and is transported with secretogranin II-containing vesicles. (ekstern lenke)
• Benjamin Wade; Gerhard Hellemann; Randall Espinoza et al. (2019). Depressive Symptom Dimensions in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression and Their Modulation With Electroconvulsive Therapy. (ekstern lenke)
• Takahiro Soda; Declan M. McLoughlin; Scott R. Clark et al. (2019). International Consortium on the Genetics of Electroconvulsive Therapy and Severe Depressive Disorders (Gen-ECT-ic). (ekstern lenke)
• Anne-Kristin Støbakk Stavrum; Lea Sirignano; Leila Marie Frid et al. (2025). Epigenetic and blood markers associated with response to electroconvulsive therapy in patients with depressive disorders. (ekstern lenke)
• Leif Oltedal; Hauke Bartsch; Ole Johan Evjenth Sørhaug et al. (2017). The Global ECT-MRI Research Collaboration (GEMRIC): Establishing a multi-site investigation of the neural mechanisms underlying response to electroconvulsive therapy. (ekstern lenke)
• M.A.J.T. Blanken; M.L. Oudega; A.W. Hoogendoorn et al. (2023). Sex-specifics of ECT outcome. (ekstern lenke)
• Leif Oltedal; Margaret Lin Veruki; Espen Hartveit (2009). Passive membrane properties and electrotonic signal processing in retinal rod bipolar cells. (ekstern lenke)
• Giulio Emilio Brancati; Njål Brekke; Hauke Bartsch et al. (2021). Short and long-term effects of single and multiple sessions of electroconvulsive therapy on brain gray matter volumes. (ekstern lenke)
• Vera Jane Erchinger; Jeremy Miller; Thomas Jones et al. (2020). Anterior cingulate gamma-aminobutyric acid concentrations and electroconvulsive therapy. (ekstern lenke)
• Maarten Laroy; Filip Bouckaert; Olga Therese Ousdal et al. (2024). Characterization of gray matter volume changes from one week to 6 months after termination of electroconvulsive therapy in depressed patients. (ekstern lenke)
• Edda Ottarsdottir; Øystein Vesterli Tveiten; Leif Oltedal et al. (2024). Impact of subjective and objective language function and psychological distress on quality of life in glioma patients awaiting surgery. (ekstern lenke)

Konferanseposter

• Lucia Wagner; Gyrid Nygaard; Ute Kessler et al. (2021). ECT’s Effects on the Brain’s Motor Coordination. (ekstern lenke)
• Anette Knudsen; Anette Storstein; L Oltedal et al. (2002). Pyramidal cell antibodies associated with limbic encephalitis and thymoma. (ekstern lenke)
• Leif Oltedal; Ute Kessler; Lars Ersland et al. (2013). Project outline: Effects of ECT in treatment of major depression. A prospective neuroradiological study of acute and longitudinal effects on brain structure and function. (ekstern lenke)
• Andrea Stautland; Ute Kessler; Leif Oltedal et al. (2017). Lipidomics in Patients Receiving ECT. (ekstern lenke)
• Leif Oltedal; René Westerhausen; Kenneth Hugdahl (2012). A dichoptic analog to the Bergen dichotic listening paradigm: A pilot study.. (ekstern lenke)

Studieprotokoll

• Eivind Haga Ronold; Daniel Jensen; Anders Lillevik Thorsen et al. (2025). Cognitive deficits in treatment-resistant depression: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis. (ekstern lenke)

Konferanseforedrag

• Svend Davanger; Einar O. Vik-Mo; Leif Oltedal et al. (2001). Sec6 and sec8 may have different roles in neuronal vesicle targeting. (ekstern lenke)
• Leif Oltedal (2018). GEMRIC: now and the future. (ekstern lenke)

Leserbrev

• Olga Therese Ousdal; Rolf Gjestad; Leif Oltedal (2021). Reply to: Clinical Relevance of Brain Changes After Electroconvulsive Therapy: Is There Really No Link at All?. (ekstern lenke)
• Marco Hirnstein; Leif Oltedal (2025). Transkraniell magnetisk stimulering – kommet for å bli. (ekstern lenke)

Doktorgradsavhandling

• Leif Oltedal (2009). Electrical recordings from a presynaptic terminal - a study of passive membrane properties and exocytosis. (ekstern lenke)

Medieintervju

• Virginia Gewin; Leif Oltedal (2018). Formalize agreements. (ekstern lenke)

Konferanseabstrakt

• Anette Knudsen; Geir Bredholt; A. Storstein et al. (2004). CRMP3 antibodies associated with limbic encephalitis and thymoma. (ekstern lenke)

Vitenskapelig litteraturgjennomgang

• Vera Jane Erchinger; Lars Ersland; Stein Magnus Aukland et al. (2021). Magnetic resonance spectroscopy in depressed subjects treated with electroconvulsive therapy—A systematic review of literature. (ekstern lenke)
• Yoshifumi Abe; Vera Jane Erchinger; Olga Therese Ousdal et al. (2024). Neurobiological mechanisms of electroconvulsive therapy for depression: Insights into hippocampal volumetric increases from clinical and preclinical studies. (ekstern lenke)

Fagartikkel

• Leif Oltedal; Ute Kessler; Ketil J Ødegaard (2013). ECT og kognitive bivirkninger. (ekstern lenke)

Se en full oversikt over publikasjoner i Cristin

1) ECT og nevroradiologi

- Elektrokonvulsiv terapi (ECT) brukes ved alvorlig, terapiresistent depresjon. Prosjektet undersøker akutte og langsiktige effekter av ECT. Deltagerne i studien undersøkes med avansert MR før, under og etter behandling. En av hypotesene som undersøkes er om ECT stimulerer nydannelse av hjerneceller. Dette kan ikke påvises direkte med MR, men øket volum av grå substans er et indirekte tegn på nevrotrofiske effekter. Vi vil også se etter endringer i hjernens signalstoffer (nevrotransmittere) og i hvit substans. I tillegg til bildeundersøkelser utredes pasientene grundig med nevropsykologiske tester før og etter behandling.

ECTMRI - info om norsk studie

The GEMRIC study - info om internasjonalt samarbeid  og her

2) RSI i nevroradiologi

- Restriction Spectrum Imaging (RSI; utviklet ved UCSD) er en metode for MR diffusjonsavbildning som kan skille intracellulært vann (restricted water) fra vann i ekstracellulærvæsken (hindered water). Metoden er ny og prosjektet vil undersøke om/hvordan RSI kan gi ny informasjon om ulike patologiske prosesser som standard klinisk diffusjonsavbildning ikke gir.