Major Depressive Disorder Clinical Trials

An open-label, single-arm, clinical research study about how to make transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), an FDA-approved treatment, more effective for patients with late-life depression using fMRI. Read Less

Cognitive problems, like memory loss, are common after brain injuries like trauma or stroke. These problems make daily life harder, and the investigators don't yet know the best ways to help the brain recover. Scientists think that a process in the brain called long-term potentiation (LTP) is important for memory and learning. When LTP isn't working properly, it may cause problems with thinking and memory. But studying LTP in people is hard because it happens deep inside the brain. Our research uses a treatment called electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) to better understand LTP. ECT is a treatment for severe depression that works by causing a controlled seizure in the brain. While ECT often helps depression, it can temporarily cause memory and thinking problems, which usually improve over time. This makes ECT a good way to study how thinking and memory recover. The investigators will use a tool called electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain activity during different stages of ECT treatment. EEG is a safe and non-invasive way to track changes in LTP. Specifically, the investigators will measure how the brain responds to visual signals using something called visual evoked potentials (VEPs). These signals can show how LTP is affected by ECT. The study's main goal is to track changes in LTP using VEPs during and after ECT. By studying these changes, the investigators hope to learn how ECT affects the brain and how it recovers. This could help improve treatments for brain injuries and other conditions that cause memory and thinking problems. Read Less

Participants will receive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) at a random location in the left prefrontal cortex, excluding sites that are potentially unsafe. Extensive behavioral testing will be conducted to determine which behaviors are modulated by stimulating which circuits. Read Less

The proposed study is a single-site, randomized, controlled clinical trial (RCT) comparing ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) to a standard evidence-based regimen of ketamine administered in a medical model without psychotherapy (KET). Eligible study participants will be adults with major depressive disorder (MDD). Adults with MDD will be randomized to KAP or KET in a 1:1 allocation. Each treatment group will receive KAP or KET over a period of four weeks. Measurement of depression severity, wellness, neurocognitive functioning and other parameters will occur at baseline prior to treatment, immediately following the end of the acute treatment period, and over an 8-week (two month) treatment follow-up period. Read Less

This is a randomized, double-blind, active-controlled, multi-center study to evaluate the efficacy of AXS-05, compared to bupropion, in preventing the relapse of depressive symptoms in subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD) who have responded to treatment with AXS-05. Read Less

The primary purpose of this study is to determine whether empagliflozin, a medication in a class known as sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2) inhibitors, may reduce symptoms of depression. Since this medication helps the body make metabolites known as ketone bodies which can serve as an alternate energy source for the brain, the investigators can also test whether ketone bodies help with depressed mood. Read Less

This study is dedicated to help identify biomarkers for depression and suicide. The purpose of the study is to better understand these links to improve medical and psychiatric care in the future. This research is also to test the effects of standard treatment of depression on improvement in depressive and suicidal behavior and on biomarkers (e.g. miRNA) for these disorders. Read Less

This is a research study to find out if childhood trauma and stress are associated with depression or suicidal risk. The study will assess the effects of both short-term and long-term stress on biomarker (e.g. miRNA \[MiRNA\]) levels. miRNAs are a type of RNA (genetic material that is translated into protein) that are found in throughout the body and blood. They are called microRNA because their size is much smaller than typical RNA molecules. miRNAs are highly responsive to environment. This responsiveness is reflected in their expression in individuals who are affected by environment such as stress. The investigators are gathering genetic material, including DNA and RNA, from each participant. The RNA will be taken from the small vesicles and cells in the participant's blood and analyzed. The vesicles are small objects that occur normally in the blood and that contain RNA. This information may help us to understand the cause of mental illness and to improve medical and psychiatric care in the future. There will be 450 participants enrolled in this study. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility and acceptability of an online group Neuro-behavioral Therapy (NBT) with text messaging intervention for Veterans with epilepsy and major depressive disorder (MDD). Read Less

The purpose of the study is to identify brain biomarkers and characteristics that predict individual responses to treatment of major depression with the antidepressant drug sertraline (tradename Zoloft), a common selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant. Our central hypothesis is that brain activity and connections jointly measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalogram (EEG) will be able to predict an individual's response to sertraline treatment. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that the anti-depressant and anti-suicidal effects of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist Ketamine is critically dependent on stimulation of Alpha-Amino-3-Hydroxy-5-Methyl-4-Isoxazole Propionic Acid receptors (AMPAR). Read Less

The purpose of this study is to determine whether psilocybin, a hallucinogenic drug, is effective in reducing depressive symptoms and amount of drinking in patients with co-occurring Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Read Less