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MRI Study of Brain Activity and Risk for Depression in Adolescents
This study is currently recruiting participants.
Verified by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC), July 2008
Sponsored by: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Information provided by: National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00047944
  Purpose

Anxiety in children of parents with major depressive disorder (MDD) poses a particularly high risk for later-life MDD. In adults, MDD involves dysfunction in prefrontal brain regions that regulate attention to emotional stimuli. These abnormalities: i) have been found primarily in adults with specific familial forms of MDD; ii) persist after recovery from MDD, and iii) relate to anxiety. These findings raise the possibility that risk for MDD is tied to dysfunction in prefrontal regions involved in regulation of emotion, which possibly manifests as early-life anxiety. If this possibility were confirmed in never-depressed adolescents at high risk for MDD, the findings would provide key insights into the developmental neurobiology of MDD. The goal of this protocol is to study the neural substrate of risk for MDD in young people. This protocol tests the hypothesis that adolescents at high risk for MDD by virtue of childhood anxiety and parental history of MDD exhibit dysfunction in prefrontal cortex and amygdala, regions involved in emotion regulation. This goal will be accomplished through fMRI studies of emotion regulation in high and low-risk adolescents.

For this research, at-risk adolescents will be recruited from participants in an NIMH-funded extramural study at New York University (NYU) examining the biology of risk for anxiety and depressive disorders. Over a three-year period, 45 high-risk probands and 60 low-risk comparisons will be studied, including 20 comparisons from the NYU sample and 40 from the Washington DC metropolitan area. In the present protocol, to be conducted at NIH, subjects will undergo volumetric MRI scans to assess structural abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal lobe. They will complete a series of four out-of-scanner cognitive tasks and two fMRI-based cognitive tasks that measure modulation of attention to emotional stimuli. The fMRI tasks are hypothesized to differentially engage the prefrontal cortex and amygdala in low vs. high risk subjects. These tasks will be used to test the hypothesis that at-risk individuals exhibit enhanced amygdala and reduced prefrontal activation on the fMRI emotion/attention tasks.

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Condition
Involutional Depression
Anxiety Disorders

MedlinePlus related topics: Anxiety Depression MRI Scans
U.S. FDA Resources
Study Type: Observational
Official Title: Neural Circuitry and Risk for Depression in Adolescents: A Study Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Further study details as provided by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC):

Estimated Enrollment: 450
Study Start Date: October 2002
Detailed Description:

Parental history of major depressive disorder (MDD) poses a particularly high risk for later-life MDD. In adults, MDD involves dysfunction in prefrontal brain regions that regulate attention to emotional stimuli. These abnormalities: i) have been found primarily in adults with specific familial forms of MDD; ii) persist after recovery from MDD, and iii) relate to anxiety. These findings raise the possibility that risk for MDD is tied to dysfunction in prefrontal regions involved in regulation of emotion. If this possibility were confirmed in never-depressed adolescents at high risk for MDD, the findings would provide key insights into the developmental neurobiology of MDD. The goal of this protocol is to study the neural substrate of risk for MDD in young people. This protocol tests the hypothesis that adolescents at high risk for MDD by virtue of parental history of MDD exhibit dysfunction in prefrontal cortex and amygdala, regions involved in emotion regulation. This goal will be accomplished through fMRI studies of emotion regulation in high and low-risk adolescents.

For this research, at-risk adolescents will be recruited from participants in NIMH-funded extramural studies at New York University, Brown University, and Columbia University examining the biology of risk for anxiety and depressive disorders. Over a three-year period, data on each measure of interest will be obtained in 100 high-risk probands and 100 low-risk comparisons. In addition, a sub-set of parents of these adolescents (n=100) also will studied suing identical procedures. In the present protocol, to be conducted at NIH, subjects will undergo volumetric MRI scans to assess structural abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal lobe. They will complete a series of out-of-scanner cognitive tasks and fMRI-based cognitive tasks. Two of these tasks measure modulation of attention to emotional stimuli, and the third task measures engagement of temporal and prefrontal regions during social interactions. For all tasks, prior studies in adolescents with ongoing mood and anxiety disorders demonstrate hypothesized abnormalities in brain engagement. The current study is designed to examine the degree to which comparable findings emerge in unaffected adolescents at risk for mood and anxiety disorders.

  Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:   10 Years to 55 Years
Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   Yes
Criteria
  • ADOLESCENT SUBJECTS - INCLUSION CRITERIA:

Age: 10-17.

Can give consent/assent. Parents will provide consent for all minors.

All subjects will have IQ greater than 80.

High risk: Offspring of adults with a history of MDD.

Low risk: Offspring of adults with no history of MDD and low developmental levels of emotion dysregulation. Offspring of adults with no history of MDD and low developmental levels of emotion dysregulation. Subjects born to parents with only anxiety disorders will be included in this group.

ADOLESCENT SUBJECTS - EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Any medical condition that increases risk for MRI (e.g. pacemaker, metallic foreign body in eye).

Pregnancy.

All subjects will be free of current impairing affective disorders, separation anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, ADHD, as well as lifetime history of substance dependence, psychosis, pervasive developmental disorder, major affective disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, conduct disorder, anorexia. All subjects will be born to parents with no history of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

ADULT SUBJECTS - INCLUSION CRITERIA:

Age: 18-55

Can give consent.

Must have an offspring participating in the same protocol.

Have an IQ greater than 80

Past history of MDD

No lifetime history of MDD

ADULT SUBJECTS - EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Any medical condition that increases risk for MRI (e.g. pacemaker, metallic foreign body in eye)

Pregnancy

All subjects will be free of current significantly impairing affective disorders, psychotropic medications, as well as lifetime history of substance dependence, psychosis, conduct disorder, or anorexia.

  Contacts and Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00047944

Contacts
Contact: Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office (800) 411-1222 prpl@mail.cc.nih.gov
Contact: TTY 1-866-411-1010

Locations
United States, Maryland
National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike Recruiting
Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
United States, New York
New York University Recruiting
New York, New York, United States, 10016
United States, Rhode Island
Brown University Recruiting
Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02912
Sponsors and Collaborators
  More Information

NIH Clinical Center Detailed Web Page  This link exits the ClinicalTrials.gov site

Publications:
Study ID Numbers: 030014, 03-M-0014
Study First Received: October 22, 2002
Last Updated: November 19, 2008
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00047944  
Health Authority: United States: Federal Government

Keywords provided by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC):
Attention
Emotion
Amygdala
Prefrontal Cortex
Facial Expression
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
fMRI
Depression
Anxiety
Adolescence
Depression
Anxiety
Adolescence
Children

Study placed in the following topic categories:
Depression
Anxiety Disorders
Facies
Mental Disorders
Mood Disorders
Depressive Disorder, Major
Depressive Disorder
Behavioral Symptoms

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on January 30, 2009