MK4MDD

Study Report

Reference
CitationOttowitz, 2010 PubMed
Full InfoOttowitz, W.E., Deckersbach, T., Savage, C.R., Lindquist, M.A. and Dougherty, D.D. (2010) Neural correlates of strategic processes underlying episodic memory in women with major depression: A 15O-PET study. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci, 22, 218-230.

Study
Hypothesis or Background
Sample Informationeight healthy females, IQ=122, and eight depressed females, IQ=107
Method DetailTo evaluate the functional integrity of brain regions underlying strategic mnemonic processing in patients with major depressive disorder, the authors administered a modified version of the California Verbal Learning Test to depressed patients during presentation of lists of unrelated words and, conversely, during presentation of lists of related words with and without orientation regarding the relatedness of the words.
Method Keywordspositron emission tomography (PET)
ResultBrain function evaluated across all three conditions showed that patients with major depressive disorder revealed activation of the right anterior cingulate cortex, left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, both hippocampi, and the left orbitofrontal cortex. Further analysis showed that patients with major depressive disorder had greater activation of the right anterior cingulate cortex during semantic organization and the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex during strategy initiation.

Relationships reported by Ottowitz, 2010