Brain Markers of Depression Vulnerability: the Case of Prefrontal

Status Recruiting

Clinical Trial Summary

Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) offers a cheap and reliable tool to investigate prefrontal brain activation in the healthy and diseased human brain. As such, fNIRS bears great potential as a diagnostic tool for clinical practice. Research indicates that fNIRS, together with a relatively simple task to activate the prefrontal cortex, the so-called verbal fluency task (VFT), elucidates prefrontal dysfunction in major depressive disorder (MDD). This finding can potentially serve as an imaging marker for disease pathology, even when depressive symptoms are absent. Indeed, recent research also suggests prefrontal dysfunction in fully remitted MDD (rMDD). Prefrontal haemodynamic responses may therefore serve as a trait marker for MDD vulnerability. This study aims to investigate the haemodynamic response in rMDD, healthy participants with increased MDD risk (HCr; having a 1st-degree relative with MDD), and low-risk healthy participants (HCnr; having no 1st-degree relatives with MDD) using fNIRS. The investigators hypothesize lower prefrontal reactivity in HCr compared to HCnr, and lowest prefrontal reactivity in rMDD compared to HCnr. This study has the potential to elucidate the neuronal underpinnings of depression vulnerability in the absence of symptoms that are sometimes considered a confounding factor when it comes to studying the biological encoding of depression.

Clinical Trial Description

Healthy participants with a high risk of MDD (HCr), healthy participants with a low risk of MDD (HCnr) and rMDD participants will be included in this study. Prefrontal haemodynamic response will be measured in all participants during the verbal fluency test (VFT) using 52 channels fNIRS. The VFT involves two neural conditions, one positive condition, and one negative condition. Both the neuroimage change and the behavioral outcomes of VFT will be compared within-group and among groups. The correlation between the neuroimage change and the behavioral outcomes will be analyzed as well. ;

Study Design

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

Clinical Trial Details

NCT number	NCT05427578
Study type	Observational
Source	The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Contact	Georg S Kranz, PhD
Phone	2766
Email	georg.kranz@polyu.edu.hk
Status	Recruiting
Phase
Start date	August 1, 2021
Completion date	February 29, 2024

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Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.

Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.

Brain Markers of Depression Vulnerability: the Case of Prefrontal Haemodynamic Response

Clinical Trial Summary

Clinical Trial Description

Study Design

Related Conditions & MeSH terms