Hospitalized geriatric unipolar major depressives will be separated into three clinical groups based upon presence and type of delusions: mood-congruent delusional depressives; mood- incongruent delusional depressives; and depressives without delusions. Twenty-five subjects in each group and 25 controls will be compared for: pretreatment plasma cortisols and resistance to dexamethasone suppression; dopamine beta hydroxylase activity; and family risk for unipolar depression versus schizophrenia. Recovered subjects will be assessed for dopaminergic responses to dexamethasone. Reports suggesting that disturbances of hypothalamic-pituitary- adrenocortical functioning are exaggerated in elderly depressives, and that dopamine beta hydroxylase may decrease as a function of age are applied in the design; elderly unipolar depressives are studied to test the theory that hypercortisolemia resulting from the depressed state interacts with a trait for an excessive dopaminergic response to steroid stimulation in the pathogenesis of mood-congruent delusional depression.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
First Independent Research Support & Transition (FIRST) Awards (R29)
Project #
5R29MH043856-04
Application #
3474927
Study Section
Life Course and Prevention Research Review Committee (LCR)
Project Start
1988-05-01
Project End
1993-04-30
Budget Start
1991-05-01
Budget End
1993-04-30
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
1991
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Department
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
201373169
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10065
Meyers, B S; Alpert, S; Gabriele, M et al. (1993) State specificity of DST abnormalities in geriatric depression. Biol Psychiatry 34:108-14
Meyers, B S; Mattis, S; Gabriele, M et al. (1991) Effects of nortriptyline on memory self-assessment and performance in recovered elderly depressives. Psychopharmacol Bull 27:295-9