INCLUSION CRITERIA - HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS:
Healthy Control Sample (n = 30, phase 1; n = 15, phase 3): Right-handed subjects (ages 18-50) will be selected who have not met criteria for any major psychiatric disorder, have no known first-degree relatives with mood disorders, and have a current score on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS; 17 items) in the not depressed range (less than or equal to 7). Control subjects will be matched to depressed subjects for age, gender, and education.
INCLUSION CRITERIA - MDD SAMPLES:
MDD Sample-Currently Depressed (n = 30, phase 1; n = 15, phase 3): Right-handed subjects (ages 18-50) will be selected with primary MDD currently depressed by DSM-IV criteria for recurrent MDD and current HDRS score in the moderately-to-severely depressed range (greater than or equal to 18).
MDD Sample-Remitted Depressed (n = 15, phase 2): Right-handed subjects (ages 18-50) will be selected with a past history of MDD by DSM-IV criteria.
Healthy Relatives of MDD Subjects (n=45): Right-handed subjects (ages 18-50) will be selected who have a first-degree relative with MDD but do not themselves meet criteria for a psychiatric disorder. Subjects will be matched to depressed and control subjects for age, gender, and education.
EXCLUSION CRITERIA:
Subjects will be recruited who are drug-naive or who have not received psychotropic drugs for at least 3 weeks (8 weeks for fluoxetine) prior to scanning. Effective medications will not be discontinued for the purposes of the study. Subjects will also be excluded if they have a) serious suicidal ideation or behavior, b) psychosis to the extent that the ability to provide informed consent is in doubt, c) medical conditions or concomitant medications that are likely to influence cerebral blood flow or neurological function including cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine and neurological diseases, d) a history of drug or alcohol abuse within 1 year or a lifetime history of alcohol or drug dependence (DSM-IV criteria), e) current pregnancy (as documented by pregnancy testing prior to scanning), f) general MRI exclusion criteria, g) history of non-response to Zoloft or of intolerable or adverse side effects during Zoloft treatment. Additional exclusion criteria applied to control subjects are: a) subjects with a current or past history of other axis I psychiatric conditions, b) subjects with first-degree family members with current or past history of mood disorder.
Subjects beyond age 50 are excluded to reduce the biological heterogeneity encompassed by the MDD criteria, and to reduce the variability of the BOLD signal. Subjects whose first major depressive episodes arose temporally after other major medical or psychiatric conditions will also be excluded, since their functional imaging results generally differ from those reported in primary MDD.
National Institutes of Health Clinical Center
Bethesda, Maryland 20892. Last update: 01/30/2009