This project is central to the Conte center. All other projects are linked to this project in a conceptualand a practical sense. This project follows up on our findings that lesions disrupt the functioning ofthe mood circuit in elderly patients with depression. The project utilizes multimodal imaging Diffusiontensor imaging (DTI), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)along with cognitive testing and genetics to study the connectivity and dysregulation of the moodcircuit. Based on findings from our earlier work we evaluate the nature of the changes in the fibertracts connecting amygdala, Orbital prefrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, striatum and itsrelationship to neurocognitive changes. We evaluate whether glutamate isreduced in the anterior cingulate and orbital prefrontal cortex in patients with depression using MRS.In addition we evaluate changes in brain structure and function as it relates to serotonin transporterpromoter region allelic variants. This project uses state of the art image processing and will lead to agreater understanding of the neuroanatomical substrates of depression.
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