Depression Clinical Trials

There has been much interest in the potential role of social media (SM) use in driving a current mental health crisis among teens, with a dire need for evidence that goes beyond self-report. One important avenue is to understand the role of the brain in driving the effects of SM use on emotional health and vice versa. However, there is almost no research addressing these questions, largely due to a lack of tasks that can probe the neural correlates of modern SM use. The goal of this clinical trial is to develop and validate a new developmentally-appropriate and ecologically-valid functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and eyetracking task, the TeenBrainOnline (TBO) Task, that is more realistic and similar to modern SM platforms. Participants will be 50 teens (ages 13-17) with depressive symptoms who will complete the final version of TBO task during fMRI with eye-tracking, an older Chatroom Interact (CHAT-I) Task, daily surveys of SM use, and measures of depressive symptoms. Our goal is to show that the task works by: * Demonstrating that it activates expected regions of the brain and visual attention biases toward feedback cues. * Showing that brain and eyetracking (visual attention) activity on the task explain variability in depressive symptoms at baseline and three months later, and work better than similar indices from an older task. * Showing that brain and eyetracking (visual attention) activity on the task are associated with real-world measures of social media use collected during daily surveys. Specifically, The investigators expect that teens whose brain and eyetracking activity suggests they are more sensitive to feedback on SM will report a social evaluation orientation toward social media use in daily life, such as engaging a lot in social comparison, worrying about missing out, and caring about getting a lot of likes and comments. Participants will be asked to: * complete a 10-15 minute screening call to determine eligibility for the study * complete one 90 minute virtual study visit to complete questionnaires and prepare for the MRI visit (visit 1) * submit 24 photos to our study specific social media site * complete an (in person) MRI scan visit (\~4 hours), which consists of 2 tasks where they will interact with peers (visit 2) * complete \~5 minute smartphone surveys 3 times a day for 16 days, asking about their daily experiences online and emotional reactions. * complete 2 online questionnaires asynchronously 3 months after their scan date Read Less

The purpose of this research is to understand how chronic stress affects the way our brain and immune systems function, and in turn how this affects the way people feel, think, and behave. By learning more about how these processes work, the hope is to be able to develop better treatments to help with problems like depression and substance use. This study is intended for individuals that are HIV positive, currently taking prescription antiretroviral medications, and use stimulants. Through this intervention, the aim is to determine if this positive affect intervention can lead to reductions in stimulant use and depressed mood. Read Less

Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs) encompass a range of mental health disorders that occur during pregnancy and up to one year postpartum. Approximately 13% of women experience PMADs. This rate doubles for those with adverse perinatal outcomes (APO) and triples in Black women. Recent research points to racism as one significant source of these health disparities. Cultural adaptations to improve communication with providers decrease rates of depression in minority patients as well as improve adherence to treatment, insight and alliance. Discrimination stress and worries about experiencing medical consequences are thought to increase systemic inflammation, a mechanism known to drive mental and physical symptoms. Inflammation has been implicated in both PMADs and APO, suggesting a shared underlying etiology. Evidence from our work suggests that inflammation contributes to the pathophysiology of PMADs. The proposed pilot randomized control trial will allow the investigators to build on promising preliminary results and identify whether our culturally relevant mobile Health (mHealth) intervention is effective in improving outcomes among Black pregnant women randomized to the intervention compared to a control group. The culturally relevant modules include building communication and self-advocacy skills and provide a support network. The primary objective of this research is to provide guidance for clinical care of Black women during the perinatal period, with the goal to improve mental health and physical health outcomes. A secondary goal is to examine novel inflammatory signatures that change as a function of the intervention to reduce PMADs in this population. As inflammation may be diagnostic of PMADs, identification of its role may shed light of potential intervention targets and provide critical knowledge to improve women's long-term health. PMAD symptoms will be assessed prospectively in 150 Black pregnant women, half of whom will be randomized to receive the culturally relevant mHealth intervention. The investigators hypothesize that women in the intervention group will have reduced rates of PMADs and APOs, an increase in adherence to mental health treatment and will report increased self-advocacy skills, increased communication with providers, and reduced levels of discrimination related stress. Participants will also have improved biological risk indicators including lower circulating C-reactive protein and a transcription profile of differentially expressed inflammatory genes, marked by a decreased activity of inflammatory transcription factors from blood spots. Given the high burden of both PMADs and APOs among Black mothers and the numerous consequences on maternal and child outcomes, it is imperative that investigators develop and implement effective interventions, and test the biological mechanisms that might drive these effects. This work is interdisciplinary, building on a network of community advocates to implement a novel mHealth intervention informed by real world experiences designed to enhance self-advocacy, reduce stress and prevent adverse outcomes Read Less

This study aims to compare the effectiveness of a standard mobile iPhone cognitive behavioral therapy program to a personalized mobile iPhone cognitive behavioral therapy program that introduces new skills over a shorter period of time. Participants will use the Maya app for two days per week, at least 20 minutes per day, for six weeks. Assessments will include a weekly check in with a member of the research team, questionnaires, and optional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings at the beginning and end of the 6-week intervention. The investigators think that that the less burdensome personalized program will be just as effective at improving symptoms of anxiety and depression as the general program. Read Less

A prospective, single arm, non-randomized, pivotal clinical validation study to evaluate the ability of the Kintsugi Voice Device (the Device) to aid clinical assessment for depression by comparing its output with a diagnosis made by a clinician using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5-RV) for up to 1000 English speaking adult patients ages 22 and older living in the United States. Recruitment will occur for 1 year and participation will be for up to 2 weeks Read Less

The investigators hypothesized that during the 9-week course of Engage \& Connect treatment there will be an increase in brain functions of the Positive Valence System which in turn will lead to reduction in suicidality. Read Less

This study aims to assess the feasibility and acceptability of "MAYA", a mobile cognitive behavioral therapy app for anxiety and mood disorders, in adults who have had a stroke. Read Less

This study originally included 140 subjects with medication-refractory depression undergoing 10 Hz transcranial magnetic stimulation (10Hz-TMS) to the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), with the goal of having 60 completers with good quality data. Subjects were recruited from the TMS clinics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham \& Women's Hospital, and Butler Hospital. Subjects underwent an hour-long MRI scanning session, an optional DNA-sample collection, up to three 20 minute neuronavigation sessions for marking the site of TMS stimulation, questionnaires, and a behavioral testing battery before and after their TMS treatment course. The task battery included the Emotion Conflict Resolution (ECR) task, Multi-Source Interference Task (MSIT), War Game (Gambling) task, and Associative Learning with Reversal task. Subjects' scores on the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were assessed before and after the TMS course. MRI data was utilized to identify brain regions whose connectivity to the stimulation site co-varies with the aforementioned measures of symptom improvement. This was the only study group until August 30, 2022, and the primary outcome was analyzed for the 10Hz-TMS group. Due to changes in clinical standard of care from 10Hz-TMS to a newer version of TMS termed intermittent theta burst (iTBS), in September 2022 a second group was added to include patients receiving this new form of TMS. This second group included another 100 patients with medication-refractory depression undergoing iTBS to the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), with the intent to have 80 completers. Massachusetts General Hospital was added as a data collection site in lieu of Butler Hospital. Subjects will undergo an hour-long MRI scanning session, up to three 20 minute neuronavigation sessions for marking the site of TMS stimulation, questionnaires, and a behavioral testing battery before and after their TMS treatment course. The task battery will included the Emotion Conflict Resolution (ECR) task, Multi-Source Interference Task (MSIT), Penn Emotion Recognition Test, the Suicide/Death Implicit Association Test, and Associative Learning with Reversal task. Subjects' scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were assessed before and after the TMS course. MRI data will be utilized to identify brain regions whose connectivity to the stimulation site co-varies with the aforementioned measures of symptom improvement. Due to a higher dropout rate than anticipated, in March of 2025 an amendment was added to include an additional 20 subjects in the second group's enrollment goal to increase the likelihood of achieving 80 completers. Read Less

The goal of this research is to test if a prenatal yoga app can improve well-being in African American/Black (AA) pregnant women. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Is the Down Dog prenatal yoga app feasible for AA pregnant women? 2. How does mental and physical health change after using the Down Dog app for 12-weeks? 3. What cultural adaptations to the Down Dog app are needed? The study lasts for 12 weeks and participants are asked to: * do prenatal yoga with the app for at least 20 min/day, three days/week, from home * wear a Garmin Vivosmart 5 watch daily * complete four online surveys * complete an optional virtual interview This project aims to advance public health by contributing to a broader understanding of how prenatal yoga can support the health and well-being of AA pregnant women and promote optimal maternal and child health outcomes. Read Less

This study plans to learn more about the use of one of two self-guided online cognitive behavioral therapy courses. One is focused on symptoms of depression and one is focused on history of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Read Less

The goal of this study is to investigate the effects of cannabis on brain function among adolescents with depression. Read Less

The goal of this phase II study is to establish the dose-response curves of a safe and clinically feasible non-invasive brain stimulation technique (accelerated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)) to improve both depression and cognitive function in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) patients with comorbid depression. It is known that TMS can effectively treat depression. Identifying the right dose of accelerated TMS in MCI patients is necessary prior to designing subsequent trials to determine efficacy. These results will inform future clinical trials of accelerated TMS for MCI, with the long-term goal of developing an efficacious treatment to prevent dementia. Read Less