Determining Changes in Brain Structure Associated With Symptoms of Late-life Depression

April 6, 2015 updated by: Meryl Butters, University of Pittsburgh

Pathways Linking Late-Life Depression to MCI & Dementia

This study will determine the changes in brain structure and function that are responsible for mood and cognition changes that are sometimes associated with late-life depression.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

The goal of this research study is to investigate the relationships among late-life depression (LLD), cognitive impairment and progressive neurodegeneration. The guiding hypothesis is that LLD patients have evolving cognitive impairments as a consequence of distinct underlying neuropathological changes, which frequently are expressed as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). These neuropathological and cognitive changes are risk modifiers, lowering brain reserve capacity, and in turn, increasing risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease (AD). In order to pursue this goal we will enroll LLD, MCI, and normal control subjects to enrich our existing cohort to include a total of 150 elderly, non-demented, non-depressed subjects, 60 non-depressed MCI subjects and 270 LLD subjects. Using the joint infrastructure of the University of Pittsburgh's Advanced Center for Intervention and Services Research for Late-Life Mood Disorders and the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, we will complete a detailed neurobehavioral evaluation, including clinical, neuropsychological, neuroimaging and biological markers, using these data to evaluate the factors associated with the development of MCI or dementia. Subjects will be studied annually for at least three years, allowing us to use longitudinal data to evaluate a series of linked hypotheses that postulate the pathways by which elderly, depressed patients develop cognitive impairment, and which may lead some to develop dementia.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

331

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213
        • UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic
      • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213
        • UPMC Late-Life Evaluation and Treatment Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

55 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

150 elderly, non-demented, non-depressed subjects, 60 non-depressed mild cognitive impairment subjects and 270 late-life depression subjects

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of a mood disorder

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Major acute medical illnesses or injuries known to have significant direct effects on cognitive functioning (e.g., metastatic cancer, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury).
  • Uncorrectable sensory handicap (e.g., blindness), because they are unable to complete the cognitive test battery.
  • Exclusion criteria for MR scans include: cardiac pacemaker, aneurysm clip, cochlear implant, pregnancy, IUD, shrapnel, history of metal fragments in the eye, neurostimulators, weight of 250 lbs. or more, or claustrophobia.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in performance on a broad-based Neuropsychological Test Battery
Time Frame: 3 years
Changes in z-scores of the language, visuospatial, attention, memory and executive cognitive domains
3 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Pittsburgh

Collaborators

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Meryl A. Butters, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

August 1, 2005

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2011

Study Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 13, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 13, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 15, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 7, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 6, 2015

Last Verified

April 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R01MH072947 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • 9512127
  • DATR A4-GPT

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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