PET AND THE FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY OF UNIPOLAR DEPRESSION

我们将使用PET测量局部脑血流量（BF）， 代谢，以表征家族性纯 抑郁症（FPDD），单相抑郁症的一种亚型。我们 将评估BF在左前额叶增加的假设 皮质、左侧杏仁核和左侧内侧丘脑， 在FPDD的抑郁阶段的尾状核。区分 抑郁状态与特质异常的相关性， 在抑郁倾向的基础上，我们将采用纵向 设计-其中受试者在未用药的抑郁症中成像， 药物-抑郁（抗抑郁药物治疗2周后）， 药物缓解（治疗8周后）和未药物缓解 相位（14-24 mos.在基线扫描之后）。受试者内配对 在这四个阶段获得的PET扫描的比较也将 用于检查抗抑郁药物对局部血液的影响， 流动和新陈代谢。主要区域的生理测量 将使用PET和磁共振准确评估感兴趣的 用于共定位和用于校正电势成像（MRI）数据 解剖学差异（与情感疾病或药物治疗相关） 使用评估BF和每单位体积的代谢的算法， 组织.

We will use PET measurements of regional cerebral blood flow (BF) and metabolism to characterize the functional anatomy of familial pure depressive disease (FPDD), a subtype of unipolar major depression. We will evaluate the hypotheses that BF is increased in the left prefrontal cortex, the left amygdala, and the left medial thalamus and decreased in the caudate during the depressed phase of FPDD. To distinguish the correlates of the depressive state from trait-abnormalities that may- underlie the tendency to become depressed, we will employ a longitudinal design in -which subjects are imaged in the unmedicated-depressed, medicated-depressed (after 2 weeks of antidepressant drug treatment), medicated-remitted (after 8 weeks of treatment), and unmedicated-remitted phases (14-24 mos. after the baseline scan). Intrasubject paired comparisons of the PET scans obtained in these four phases will also be used to examine the effects of antidepressant drugs on regional blood flow and metabolism. The physiologic measurements in the primary regions of interest will be accurately assessed using PET and magnetic resonance image (MRI) data for colocation and for correction for potential anatomical differences (related to affective disease or drug treatment) using an algorithm which assesses BF and metabolism per unit volume of tissue.