Project Summary

Jason Scalia, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2005) of Columbia University, plans to study in brain tissue if new nerve cell growth, or neurogenesis, in response to antidepressant treatment can be measured. Recent findings have advanced the hypothesis that a deficit in neurogenesis in the hippocampus is a cause of major depressive disorder (MDD) and that restoration of neurogenesis occurs with the use of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Animal models have demonstrated the necessity of ongoing hippocampal neurogenesis for normal hippocampal function. Animal studies also have supported the hypothesis that SSRIs and other antidepressant therapies induce hippocampal neurogenesis. But whether neurogenesis in response to treatment occurs in the brains of people with MDD has not been studied. Dr. Scalia, therefore, aims to try to study neurogenesis in brain tissues from treated and non-treated MDD patients. He will examine three groups: individuals diagnosed with MDD and not on antidepressants; those diagnosed with MDD who received SSRI therapy; and non-psychiatric controls. He will thus determine whether individuals who suffered from MDD experienced a deficit in hippocampal neurogenesis and whether SSRIs corrected this deficit. As the first such investigation in humans, the results should have implications for elucidating the neuropathology underlying depressive symptoms, and will stimulate further investigations into neuroplasticity and mental disorders.

Program Area: MOOD DISORDERS\Unipolar Depression

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