MRI scans and neuropsychological test data of 80 elderly (greater than 50 years of age) inpatients and outpatients with DSM III major depression, 40 patients with NINCDS possible or probable Alzheimer's Disease and 40 age- matched controls will be compared at index and 2 year follow-up. MRI scans will be rated with the CERAD protocol. Volumetric measures will be determined for temporal lobes, superior temporal sulci, third ventricles and amygdala. Cross-sectional areas of mid-brain pons and mid-sagittal areas will be measured. Three major study questions are identified: 1) Do depressives have more cortical as well as subcortical abnormalities on MRI compared to normals and less than AD patients? 2) Do clinical variables in depressive (response to treatment for depression, neuropsychological performance, impairment of activities of daily living) correlate with severity of MRI changes? 3) What is the prognostic significance of MRI lesions in depressives. We hypothesize that greater extent of lesions will correlate with number of relapses, development of dementia and development of ADL impairment over 2 years. Finally, we propose to further characterize the language disorder of the dementia syndrome of depression and to correlate its extent with number of basal ganglia lesions, left temporal lobe volume and left superior temporal gyrus volume.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH040843-06
Application #
3379325
Study Section
Life Course and Prevention Research Review Committee (LCR)
Project Start
1987-07-01
Project End
1995-03-31
Budget Start
1993-04-01
Budget End
1994-03-31
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
1993
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Johns Hopkins University
Department
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
045911138
City
Baltimore
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
21218
Rabins, Peter V; Lavrisha, Martina (2003) Long-term follow-up and phenomenologic differences distinguish among late-onset schizophrenia, late-life depression, and progressive dementia. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 11:589-94
Rabins, P V; Aylward, E; Holroyd, S et al. (2000) MRI findings differentiate between late-onset schizophrenia and late-life mood disorder. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 15:954-60
Rabins, P V; Starkstein, S E; Robinson, R G (1991) Risk factors for developing atypical (schizophreniform) psychosis following stroke. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 3:6-9
Pearlson, G; Rabins, P (1988) The late-onset psychoses. Possible risk factors. Psychiatr Clin North Am 11:15-32