Project Summary

Dan V. Iosifescu, M.D. (Young Investigator 2006) of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, plans to use imaging to study why GABA levels in the brain increase in patients with major depressive disorder after treatment. GABA, the most important inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, is decreased in subjects with major depressive disorder and increases after antidepressant treatment. However, it is unknown if normalization of GABA levels is due to a nonspecific effect of antidepressant treatment or to clinical improvement after treatment. In the proposed project, Dr. Iosifescu plans to use proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS), a noninvasive tool for in vivo chemical analysis, to measure GABA levels in several brain areas involved in mood regulation. Dr. Iosifescu hypothesizes that: 1) depressed subjects, when compared with normal controls, will have lower baseline GABA levels in specific brain areas; and 2) subjects with major depression who respond to antidepressant treatment will show a significantly larger increase of GABA levels in specific brain areas compared with depressed patients who do not respond to treatment.

Program Area: MOOD DISORDERS\Unipolar

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