Brain Activity Changes and Treatment Response in Depressed People Who Are Receiving Antidepressant Medication

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2008-03-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

This study will examine how brain activity is affected by antidepressant treatment and how changes in brain activity relate to treatment response in people with depression.

• Phase: Phase 4
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• Treatments: Citalopram; Dexetimide; Sertraline

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Currently an outpatient with nonpsychotic, unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD)

• Score of 14 or greater on the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D17)

• Antidepressant treatment is deemed appropriate by the study clinician

• Willing to use an effective form of contraception throughout the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Mentally or legally incapacitated

• Lifetime history of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, MDD with psychotic features, or dementia

• Patients currently suffering from anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or obsessive compulsive disorder

• History of substance abuse disorder within 6 months prior to study entry

• Current suicidal ideation that would make outpatient treatment unsafe

• Past medication response that may make escitalopram or sertraline treatment unsafe or inappropriate (e.g., previous intolerance or lack of response to either medication)

• History of a failed treatment with escitalopram (40 mg or more) or sertraline (200 mg or more) during the current depressive episode

• Any medical conditions that would make treatment with escitalopram or sertraline medically inadvisable

• Unstable medical illness

• Unstable psychiatric illness likely to require inpatient treatment within the 6 months following study entry

• History of seizures, brain surgery, skull fracture, significant head trauma, or previous abnormal EEG

• Pregnant or plans to become pregnant within the 12 months following study entry

• Breastfeeding