Using Voice Biomarkers to Predict the Likelihood of Major Depressive Disorder
Major Depressive DisorderMajor Depressive Disorder (MDD) is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Depression and anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent of all mental disorders, with an estimated annual prevalence of 9.7% and 18.1% respectively. It has been known for the last 100 years that depression and anxiety both likely affect vocal acoustic properties. In 1921, Emil Kraepelin, characterized depressed patient's voices as having a lower pitch, lower volume, lower rate of speech, more monotony of prosody as well as more hesitations, stuttering, and whispering. Mechanistically, it is possible that the neural circuitry involved in the pathophysiology of mood and anxiety disorders impinge upon the neural circuit involved in speech production, affecting qualities that include rate, prosody, speech latency and other paralinguistic features. Thus, acoustic features of speech may be one of the more readily accessible biomarkers for these conditions. Given this understanding, the investigators sought to develop a passive vocal biomarker instrument for depression and anxiety screening that could markedly expand access as well as standardize the quality of screening in primary care settings.
The Role of Inflammatory Processes in Development and Treatment of Depression
Depressive DisorderDepression1 moreThe study investigates the influence of inflammatory processes on the development and the course of uni- and bipolar depression. It is assumed, that the concentrations of certain inflammatory proteins have an influence on the development of depression, its clinical severity, the response to treatment and the risk of relapse. To verify this hypothesis, a total of 145 patients, which were hospitalized für treatment of a depressive disorder in the study centers in Germany, Italy and France, were screened according to the criteria set out in the study protocol. Finally, 104 patients with moderate to severe depressive symptoms were included in the study. These patients were treated according to the recommendations of the DGPPN treatment guidelines. All patients received a medication with sertraline or venlafaxine during the study, starting at baseline. The patients were examined for the presence and severity of depressive symptoms at the time of study enrollment, as well as after 4 and 8 weeks, using standardized clinical test procedures. In addition blood was taken. In the serum of the patients, the concentrations of specific inflammatory proteins were measured using Cytometric Bead Array (CBA) and Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and then correlated with the clinical data. The investigated proteins include high-sensitivity CRP (C-Reactive-Protein), Interleukin 4, Interleukin 6, Interleukin 12, tumor necrosis factor-α, Eotaxin, Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (CD54), Interferone-gamma and monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1).
Structural and Functional Connectivity of Brainstem Monoamine Pathways in Treatment Resistant Depression...
Treatment Resistant DepressionStudy TRD subjects' resistance to at least 2 different antidepressants, we hypothesize that because of their significant depression and treatment resistant status they are most likely to exhibit BSMN pathway abnormalities.
Intravenous Iron May Increase Depression Among Hemodialysis Patients
DepressionHemodialysis Complication1 morethe aim of this study is to assess whether increased ferritin after intravenous iron therapy will lead to increased prevalence of major depression among treated patients.
Relationship Between Postpartum Mood Disorders and Delivery Experience
Postpartum PeriodDepression2 moreThe purpose of this study is to evaluate potential risk factors for developing postpartum depression or posttraumatic stress disorder during the first year postpartum in patients who have no preexisting history of PTSD or PPD.
Influenza Vaccine as a Novel Experimental Model of the Behavioral Immune Response in Depression...
DepressionHealthyThe purpose of this study is to determine differences between the immune responses in healthy and depressed people. Participants will receive the influenza vaccine and their responses will be monitored. This study will recruit 15 healthy and 60 depressed participants.
Prospective Study of the Evaluation of Disease contRol and the Quality of Life of Patients With...
DepressionAnxiety DisordersDepression is a psychiatric disorder that affects mood, thoughts and is usually accompanied by physical annoyances. It affects the person's eating habits, his sleep, the way he sees himself and the way he thinks and understands. Depressed emotion has great tension, lasts longer and leads to a reduction in the person's functioning in many areas of his life. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is the psychiatric disorder characterized by a multitude of diverse organic responses as well as a generalized, persistent and indeterminate anxiety that covers almost all of the individual's activities. It is a diffuse and intense negative mood and anxiety that is present for most of the day and whose exact causes are often undetectable.
Emotional Fluctuations in the Flow of Daily Life. Ecological Analysis of Depressive Symptoms in...
DepressionHappiness1 moreThe aim of this study is to analyze both depressive symptomatology and psychological well-being fluctuation in a day-to-day basis in the general population, in order to identify contextual determinants of the mood and well-being changes
Inflammatory Markers and Resistant Depression
DepressionThis study focuses on blood inflammatory markers (pro-inflammatory cytokines, anti-inflammatory cytokines, monocytes costimulation molecules) in patients with resistant unipolar depression in comparison with non-resistant unipolar depressed patients.
Brain-Based Biomarkers in Response to TMS in MDD
Major Depressive DisorderDepressionThe overarching goal of this research program is to elucidate causal and directional neural network- level abnormalities in depression, and how they are modulated by an individually-tailored, circuit-directed intervention. By using concurrent TMS and EEG, the investigators can overcome a major limitation of EEG - the inability to demonstrate causality. Here, we plan to recruit patients with medication-resistant depression undergoing rTMS treatment. At multiple time points, we will perform TMS-EEG to investigate the excitability and connectivity profiles of brain networks and how they are modulated during treatment. This study aims to provide objective brain network measures that can predict and track clinical response to TMS treatment. Findings from this study will be utilized to develop a novel, personalized treatment protocol based on individual brain networks.