Depression is associated with subsequent dementia in older adults, and two distinct, but not mutually exclusive, hypotheses have been suggested to account for this relationship. The "glucocorticoid cascade hypothesis" posits depression over the lifespan damages the brain, particularly the hippocampus, increasing risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The "prodrome hypothesis" suggests vascular episodes affect underlying neurological processing, giving rise to both late-life, prodromal depressive symptoms and cognitive deficits. Evidence to date does not conclusively support one hypothesis over another. We examined age of depression onset among a sample of clinically depressed patients age 60 and older to better understand the mechanisms of this association. We predicted early-onset depression (EOD; / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2014. / December 4, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references. / Natalie Sachs-Ericsson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jean Munn, University Representative; Jeanette Taylor, Committee Member; Joyce Carbonell, Committee Member; Mary Gerend, Committee Member; Walter Boot, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_253636 |
| Contributors | Rushing, Nicole C. (authoraut), Sachs-Ericsson, Natalie (professor directing dissertation), Munn, Jean (university representative), Taylor, Jeanette (committee member), Carbonell, Joyce (committee member), Gerend, Mary (committee member), Boot, Walter (committee member), Department of Psychology (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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