Case Study : Relation To Prior Neuroimaging Studies

Major depressive disorder is one of the most common mental disorders, with a 12-month prevalence of 6.7% of adults in the United States (NIMH). There is no definite etiology of depression, but several risk factors have been identified. Functional and structural changes in the brain have also been explored. The most common treatment for depression is the use of drugs that act on monoamine transmitters, including norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin. Decreases in these transmitters, especially serotonin, were hypothesized to play an important role in the cause of depression (Breedlove & Watson, 2013). The serotonin hypothesis led to the development of selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which increase the amount of serotonin in the brain. Further research suggests that the serotonin hypothesis is not entirely accurate and the neurobiology of depression is much more complex. The “chemical imbalance” explanation of depression may not reflect the full range of causes and may be given greater credibility by patients and doctors than is supported by evidence based research.

normalize the abnormal low levels of brain chemicals for those who suffer from MDD. On the

Depression comes in all kinds of forms including, Major depression, Clinical depression, and Major depressive disorder. There are multiple different contributors to what causes it. Many scientists and doctors have found that “scans showed patients with clinical depression had less brain volume in several regions, including the frontal lobe, basal ganglia and hippocampus.” (Nordquist) An article published in “Harvard Health Publications” explained that although there aren’t just one chemical that is too high or too low, there are several that are playing a large role in depression disorders. As chemical and biological factors are at play, some disorders like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia autism, major depressive disorder, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder share genes that can only be inherited. Depression can have multiple symptoms, suicidal tendencies, self injury, self hating, hopelessness and individuals can become restless and develope sleeping disorders like

Part III tested one of these alternative accounts for faces compared with another human object e.g hands. In these tests the data that was collected displayed higher intensity reactions in the ROI when parts of the face were compared to viewing human

Major Depressive Disorder, also known as "Clinical Depression" is a psychological disorder that targets emotions of sadness and melancholy. Major depression affects an individual's ability to perform well at their job and at school. It may also affect the person's sleeping habits and eating habits (Belmaker and Agam Ph. D, 2008). For their eating habits, there have been records of MDD linked to anorexia and bulimia in adults ranging between 20%-80% in a lifetime (Fernandez-Aranda, 2007). MDD has also been correlated to patients experiencing sleep disorders, with different types of Insomnia,, such as "sleep onset Insomnia" and "sleep maintenance Insomnia" (National Sleep Foundation, 2005). Depression has been linked to substantial problems to

Genetic factors are also very significant to the development of MDD. LB has many family members that have suffered from mood disorders. Her father suffered from depression along with many other disorders, and her mother received outpatient psychotherapy for depression after her divorce. LB’s maternal aunt and paternal grandfather also had been known to have recurring periods of depression.

There remain several antidepressant treatments (ADTs) available to patients with MDD, but there is a significant minority that do not respond to first-line treatments. Secondary treatment options, including changing the current ADT or adding another ADT to the treatment regimen, such as a second generation antipsychotic. Currently, aripiprazole and quetiapine are the approved therapies in the United States for unresponsive MDD patients, including the adjunctive usage of fluoxetine and olanzapine. Their efficacy has been proven countless times in randomized controlled trials of these agents, but their tolerability profiles has limited their clinical usage. Side effects fluctuate between medications, but most regularly comprise of akathisia for aripiprazole, increased appetite and weight gain for olanzapine-fluoxetine combination, and excessive sedation for quetiapine. Weight gain can be a particularly menacing side effect as it increases a patient’s overall risk of metabolic abnormalities; extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) which is equally linked with eventual risk of tardive

Depression being an affective mood disorder is a serious global public health issue with over 350 million sufferers worldwide8,10,11. Although it is described with feelings of low mood, inadequacy, guilt, low self-worth, loss of motivation, interest, pleasure and concentration; it is also associated with a functional deficit of the monoamine transmitters (serotonin and noradrenaline) in certain brain regions such as amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex6,10. It can also induce biological symptoms like retardation of thought and action as well as sleep disturbances, loss of appetite and libido and if left untreated, it can eventually lead to disability8,11. Therefore, the pharmacotherapy plays a crucial role in the treatment of depression.

Firstly it makes no comparison to other medications or treatment making it difficult to draw conclusions regarding its effectiveness over another treatment option. As previously mentioned, the study included a large sample population that was predominately female, and as such, a sampling bias has occurred by not accurately representing the male population. Therefore, any further research should include an even ratio of males and females to prevent biases in the conclusions drawn from study results. Lastly, the findings of this study were only in relation to short term treatments as there was no follow up. Further research would be required to establish the effectiveness, safety and tolerability of DLX treatments over a long period. When discussing pharmacotherapy, consideration should also be given to the possibility of a combined therapy approach. A meta-analysis comparing Pharmacotherapy and CBT (Mitte, 2005) showed that long term treatment with benzodiazepines increases patient risk of physical and psychological dependence. In addition Burton, Westen and Kowalski (2015) state that termination of pharmacotherapy has a high relapse rate. This suggests, that although these medications are different there is a potential that DLX could have similar side effects if used in long term treatment. Further research is required to establish effective and safe

Depression is defined by the DSM-IV as a mental disorder characterized by sustained depression of mood, anhedonia, sleep and appetite disturbances, feelings of worthlessness, guilt, and hopelessness. Depressive symptoms such as the mere inability to experience pleasure and loss of energy persisting for longer than two weeks are usually enough to indicate an affective disorder (Hirschfeld 2014). There are significant variations in presentations and diagnosis criteria, but regardless of the classification of depressive states (Major (Unipolar), Bipolar, Dysthymia, Atypical, SAD, Postpartum), it is agreed upon that pharmacological interventions are sometimes required: to alleviate debilitating symptoms and improve patients’ quality of life. The interest in depression medications reflects the gravity of the disease i.e. its ability to psychologically impair lives and lead to suicide.

Most studies suggest that for major mental health disorders, a treatment approach involving both drugs and psychotherapy is more effective than either treatment method used alone.1,4 Combined treatments is relatively common, but because of biases in the fields of medicine and psychology that champion one form over another, many clinicians are not fully informed about the use of both modalities.5 In general, health care providers and patients should consider that most mental health disorders can effectively be tackled by means of both pharmacological intervention and psychological therapies.6,7,8 The decision to prescribe a psychotropic agent never implies that psychological therapies are not indicated. Consequently, health care providers should not passively consider

This essay will attempt to offer a balanced review of the use of brain imaging technologies in investigating the relationships between biological factors and behavior. The different types of brain imaging technologies are PET: Positron Emission Topography, MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging, fMRI: functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, EEG: Electroencephalogram, and lastly CAT: Computerized Axial Tomography (Demitri, 2007). Brain imaging technologies are methods used in psychology to examine and further understand the human brain. While each of the differing methods has qualities that are beneficial in general it is important

(3) While successful drug therapies which act on neurotransmitters in the brain imply that depression is a neurobiological condition (4), the fact that such medications do not help about 20 percent of depression-sufferers seems to show that not all depression is due to such imbalances. Rather, depression is not caused by one single factor; it is most often caused by many different things. Genetics, biochemical factors, medicines and alcohol, developmental and other external factors, and relationships, marriage and children all have effect on the development of clinical depression. (5) The strongest hypotheses on the pathways to depression are in decreases in the activity of specific neurotransmitters, or the overactivity of certain hormonal systems. (3)

Neurologists are licensed doctors who specialize in neurological disorders such as stroke, dementia and neuromuscular diseases. Neurologists examine patients and do diagnostic tests in order to determine the best way for treatment. They might also participate in clinical studies and other research, give presentations at meetings, and write articles for medical

With the advancement in technology, neuroimaging has led to the discovery of male brains containing a greater amount of white matter, while female brains contain more gray matter (Gur et al., 1999). Sun et al. (2015) collected imaging data to track the progress of brain network topology over a five-year period and compared the results between gender differences. Participants in the study included 43 males ranging from ages 22-53, and 28 females from ages 21-59. Only those having no brain disorders, mental illnesses, substance abuse, or first-degree family members with mental illnesses were included in the research. Twenty-eight subjects completed the study and received scans over 5 years. The results supported findings from previous