Andrew J. Gerber, M.D., Ph.D.

Fellow in Child & Adolescent Depression

Project Details

PROJECT TITLE

The Use of a Brain-Based Biomarker in the Prevention and Treatment of Adolescents at Risk for Major Depression

PROJECT SUMMARY

This study grows out of a recently published discovery by our laboratory that individuals with right hemisphere cortical thinning, as measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and a family history of depression are at very high risk (approximately 85%) for a lifetime diagnosis of major depressive disorder. We hypothesize that if these ultra-high risk adolescents are treated with Preventive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (PCBT) they will be less likely to develop depression within two years of the end of treatment than similar individuals who receive only Study Skills Training (ST). We will recruit 60 adolescents 12-18 years old, who have at least one parent who has suffered from depression, are not themselves depressed, and are willing to undergo an MRI scan and 12 weeks of individual psychotherapy. We will evaluate all participants with a standardized psychiatric assessment interview and then perform a high resolution structural MRI scan to determine presence of the biomarker. We predict that individuals who have the biomarker and receive PCBT are less likely to develop depression than those with the biomarker who receive ST and that exposure to PCBT is associated with thickening of the right cortices of these individuals. The study could be an important step towards using MRI scans to target psychotherapy for people at very high risk of becoming depressed.

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