Dopaminergic Effects of Adjunctive Aripiprazole on the Brain in Treatment-Resistant Depression
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2012-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Aripiprazole has been approved by the FDA for augmenting ineffective/partially effective oral
antidepressant therapy in patients suffering from major depression. The mechanism by which
this augmentation is achieved is not known. This study has been designed to test the
hypothesis that the primary mechanism of action of aripiprazole (ARP) antidepressant
augmentation is through the dopaminergic pathway. Two positron emission tomography (PET) scan
procedures and a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan will be used to test this
hypothesis.