Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-138).

There is still a great deal that is unknown about various depressive conditions, though it is a very common affliction and cause of disability throughout the world. Not only do the underlying mechanisms of various types of depression remain uncertain, but the mystery of how different treatment options work and who will respond to them also persists. The aim of this study was to identify potential non-invasive biomarkers, to predict responsiveness to electroconvulsive therapy. Two hypotheses were investigated in this study. The first was that patient improvement from baseline on the neurocognitive, computer based pattern separation task prior to the third ECT treatment will correlate with a clinical antidepressant response. The second was that increased prefrontal slowing relative to baseline will correlate with a decrease in depressive symptoms. As a first step to validate this approach, a healthy control group performed both the pattern separation and EEG tasks once per week over the course of three weeks. Patient participants completed both tasks before their first ECT treatment, prior to their third treatment, and prior to their last treatment. A spectral analysis of EEG data was then conducted. Results indicated good test-retest reliability for the pattern separation task and EEG measurements across all three trials in the healthy control group. Results from patient data are inconclusive, but indicates that there is a change from baseline to subsequent trials for at least the EEG measurements. However, a larger sample size is needed to determine this. The limited results from this small patient sample suggest that these measurements may have clinical value in refining ECT treatment, and merit further study.

Research indicates that without healthy and close relationships, well-being and functioning suffer. Despite this knowledge, quality of relationships has not been emphasized in the mental health literature, especially as related to social anxiety disorder (SAD) where social support needs may be higher. The aim of this study was to examine how those with SAD compared to those with another anxiety disorder (generalized anxiety disorder; GAD), a mood disorder (major depressive disorder; MDD) and those with no recent history of disorder, on measures of quality of relationships with family, friends and partners, as well as on intimacy and role functioning. Data were drawn from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R; Kessler et al., 2004), a large, U.S. nationally-representative epidemiological data set. Logistic regressions were used to examine the quality of relationships for those with SAD as compared to GAD, MDD and no disorder. The associations among relationship quality and high versus low severity of SAD were also examined. It was found that those with SAD were less likely to report high family and friend support than were those with no disorder, but more likely to report high marital support than those with GAD or MDD. Those with SAD were more likely to report high family stress than those with no disorder, but no more likely to report relationship stress than were the other clinical groups. With respect to severity of SAD, those with high SAD severity were more likely to report high friendship stress than those with low SAD severity. In examining role impairment, those with SAD were less likely to report social impairment than those with GAD or MDD, and less likely to report close relationship impairment than those with MDD. Those with high SAD severity reported higher impairment across social and close relationship functioning compared to those with low severity. This study redresses many of the limitations in the current literature, and the results inform future research efforts on treatment practices and prevention.

Ketamine is a non-competitive NMDA antagonist that has been shown to have antidepressant properties both clinically as well as in preclinical studies when administered at a subanesthetic dose. In vivo electrophysiological recordings were carried in male Sprague Dawley rats 30 minutes following ketamine administration (10 mg/kg) to first assess its effects on monoaminergic firing. Whilst no change in the firing activity of serotonin (5-HT) neurons was observed in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), an increase in the firing activity was observed for dopamine (DA) and noradrenergic (NE) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and locus coeruleus (LC), respectively. The effect of ketamine on these electrophysiological parameters was prevented by pre-administration of the AMPA receptor antagonist NBQX 10 minutes prior to ketamine administration. In a second series of experiments, an increase in AMPA-evoked response was observed within 30 minutes in the CA3 layer of the hippocampus (HPC) following acute ketamine administration. These findings suggest that acute ketamine administration produces a prompt enhancement of AMPA transmission in the forebrain and also results in increased catecholaminergic activity. These effects may play a crucial role in the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine observed shortly following its infusion in the clinic.

Thesis (M.S.) -- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 2006. / Vita. Bibliography: pp.40-43.

Thesis (M.S.) -- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 2006. / Vita. Bibliography: pp. 159-175.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2002. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (doctoral)--Nijmegen, 1981.

Recent research argued that people with major depressive disorder (MDD) tend to prefer sad stimuli because they want to upregulate their sad feelings. This paper aims to examine investigate the choice of emotional stimuli among those who have MDD, compared to individuals without MDD (healthy controls, HC), and explore the reasons for their choice. Seventy six female university students (38 per group) completed three tasks: 1) In the replication music task, participants listened to happy, neutral, and sad music excerpts, chose the one they wanted to listen most, and reported the reasons of their choice. 2) The Emotional Stimuli Selection Task (ESST)’s music task considered different intensity levels and another negative emotion (fear). Participants listened to 84 pairs of music clips and decided which one they would prefer to listen to. 3) In the ESST’s image task, the same procedure was run with images. In the replication music task, MDD status predicted a greater likelihood of choosing sad music. However, compared to before listening, the MDD reported feeling more happiness and less sadness after listening to their chosen music. In addition, inconsistent with a motivation to upregulate persons with MDD singled out low intensity as their most frequently reported reason for choosing sad music. Results from the ESST’s music task showed that the MDD preferred low intense music, compared to the HC. These results suggested that the MDD may prefer sad stimuli not because they want to augment their sad feeling, but because they desire low intensity experiences. The MDD’s reduced preference for happy stimuli, relative to the HC, was found across ESST tasks. Implications as well as limitations of the study were discussed.

Objetivo: Conocer la prevalencia y evaluar los factores asociados a la sintomatología depresiva en mujeres con diagnóstico de cáncer de mama. Materiales y métodos: Estudio transversal analítico, realizado en un hospital de Lima-Perú. Se utilizó la escala Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) para evaluar la presencia de sintomatología depresiva. Resultados: Se reclutaron 385 pacientes, encontrándose una prevalencia de sintomatología depresiva del 21,29%. La edad promedio fue de 59,56, sin diferencia significativa entre pacientes con o sin sintomatología depresiva. En el análisis bivariado se encontró asociación estadísticamente significativa entre los síntomas depresivos y grado de instrucción, disnea, insomnio, dolor, síntomas gastrointestinales y síntomas generales. Sin embargo, en el análisis multivariado solo se encontró asociación estadísticamente significativa entre síntomas gastrointestinales y los síntomas depresivos (odds ratio: 2,94; intervalo de confianza al 95%: 1,48-5,83; p<0,01). Conclusiones: Las mujeres con cáncer de mama presentan una alta frecuencia de sintomatología depresiva, asociándose ésta a la presencia de síntomas gastrointestinales. En este grupo de pacientes es importante la búsqueda sistemática y manejo integral de síntomas depresivos. / Objective: To assess the prevalence and the associated factors with depressive symptoms in women diagnosed with breast cancer. Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional study performed in a hospital in Lima, Peru. We used the Patient Health Questionnaire scale (PHQ-9) for assessing the presence of depressive symptoms. Results: We recruited 385 patients, and we found a 21.29% prevalence of depressive symptoms. The mean age of patients was 59.56 years, with no statistically significant differences between age groups with or without depressive symptoms. Bivariate analyses showed statistically significant associations between depressive symptoms and educational level, dyspnea, insomnia, pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, general symptoms, radiotherapy use and monthly income. However, multivariate analyses showed there was a statistically significant association only between depressive and gastrointestinal symptoms (odds ratio: 2.94; 95% confidence interval: 1.48–5.83, p<0.01). Conclusions: Women with breast cancer have a high frequency of depressive symptoms, and these are associated to the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms. We recommend to systematically screen for depressive symptoms in these patients and to offer them multidisciplinary management for their condition.