Assessing Anterior Cingulate Brain Activity in People With Late-Life Depression

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2010-05-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

This study will examine differences in activity of the anterior cingulate cortex, a brain area involved in emotion and cognitive regulation, between older adults with and without depression.

• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Weill Medical College of Cornell University
• Treatments: Citalopram

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria for Depressed Participants:

• Diagnosis of major depression by DSM-IV criteria

• Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score greater than 24

• Severity score of 17 or higher on the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score (HDRS) during the index episode

• Residence less than a 45-minute drive from New York Hospital-Westchester Division

Exclusion Criteria for Depressed Participants:

• Presence of psychotic depression, as defined by Research Diagnostic Criteria and DSM-IV

• History of psychiatric disorders other than unipolar major depression (people with bipolar disorder and dysthymia will be excluded)

• Presence of dementing disorders

• Acute or severe medical illness, such as the following: delirium; metastatic cancer; decompensated cardiac, liver, or kidney failure; major surgery; or cerebrovascular accident or myocardial infarction 3 months prior to study entry

• Receiving drugs known to cause depression, including reserpine, alpha-methyl-dopa, and steroids

• Requires concomitant treatment with other psychotropics, including antipsychotic medications, lithium salts, stimulants, valproic acid, carbamazepine, or gabapentin

• Severe aphasia interfering with communication

• Contraindications to magnetic resonance (MR) scanning, such as implanted metal, claustrophobia, or weight greater than or equal to 300 lbs

Inclusion Criteria for Age-Matched Non-Psychiatric Comparison Sample:

• MMSE score greater than 24

Exclusion Criteria for Age-Matched Non-Psychiatric Comparison Sample:

• History of psychiatric disorder

• Presence of dementing disorders

• Acute or severe medical illness, such as the following: delirium; metastatic cancer; decompensated cardiac, liver, or kidney failure; major surgery; or cerebrovascular accident or myocardial infarction 3 months prior to study entry

• Receiving drugs known to cause depression, including reserpine, alpha-methyl-dopa, and steroids

• Current treatment with psychotropics

• Severe aphasia interfering with communication

• Contraindications to MR scanning, such as implanted metal, claustrophobia, or weight greater than or equal to 300 lbs