THE CENTER
The Conte Center for Neuroscience of Depression is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. Studies will be conducted at Duke University Medical Center and the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

The Center will focus on understanding the neurobiological mechanism of depression. The primary hypothesis underlying the study is that lesions in critical regions of the brain which disrupt the circuits lead to structural, functional, cognitive and biochemical changes that predispose to the development of depression. We will use the naturally occurring lesions in the elderly depressed as a model. 

A total of 5 projects will be undertaken. The Center proposes to test the structural (projects 1 &2), biochemical (projects 4 & 5) and functional (project 3) consequences of the circuit disruption. 

PROJECTS

  • Project 1 examines localization of lesions, structural changes in critical regions subserving the circuit and alterations in the white matter tracts relevant to the circuit. 

  • Project 2 will characterize the vascular changes and prefrontal cell pathology in depressed patients and controls. 

  • Project 3 uses cognitive paradigms and functional MRI to probe the circuit. 

  • Project 4 uses transgenic and knockout mice to examine the role of norepinephrine and serotonin as it relates to the circuit. 

  • Project 5 is designed to assess in humans the impact of norepinephrine and serotonin depletion in remitted depressed patients with lesions to evaluate the importance of these neurotransmitters as a mechanism. 

Three shared resources, administrative, research, and assessment and data management/statistics are proposed to facilitate the conduct of these projects and to ensure integration at the conceptual, analytical and patient availability level, and flow to the various projects. Findings from the center should greatly enhance our understanding of the biology of depressive disorders, but may also be of help in improving the treatment of these disorders. In addition, the technological innovations developed in the context of this project are likely to be of major importance and relevant to other studies of brain function.

GOALS

  1. To evaluate the structural, functional, cognitive and biochemical changes in the neural circuits underlying mood as it relates to depression Our initial focus will be on the basal ganglia and medial orbital frontal cortex.
  2. To evaluate the potential implication of disruption of different components of the neural circuits underlying mood.
  3. To develop a mechanism for integrating the various human and animal studies to test the above.
  4. To provide an environment for the interaction of basic and clinical scientists to achieve the above

    Revised: March 17, 2008

    DISCLAIMER
    You have entered a web site that describes an NIMH-funded collaborative study on the neurobiological mechanism of depression. If you are seeking immediate help for treatment of depression, we recommend that you contact your clinician or your nearest emergency room. This web site is not set up to provide help or advice to individuals about their depression, nor to family members or friends of individuals with depression. This web site is created for the purposes of providing background information about the study and having researchers provide input to the design. If you are interested in getting general information about depression, you can visit the following web site: www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/depressionmenu.cfm