Mood and Anxiety: Research Annual Report 2003

Section Head: Dr. L. Trevor Young

Members of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program continue to undertake multidimensional research in mood and anxiety disorders. Our work has ranged from studying molecular mechanisms to developing and evaluating new treatments, such as therapies based on meditation. In addition to population-based research methods, we use basic science methodologies, brain imaging techniques, family studies and clinical trials.

Mood Disorders

Dr. Robert Levitan has identified a particular subgroup of women who have chronic depression and who also have a cluster of symptoms such as obesity and attention problems; these women may have an abnormal variance of a dopamine receptor gene.

Dr. Jeffrey Meyer found increased prefrontal serotonin receptor binding potential in people who were depressed and who also showed negativistic thinking. These results may be related to the findings, by other groups, of increased serotonin receptor bindings, in the same brain region, in people who completed suicide.
At the laboratory level, Dr. Jun-Feng Wang used DNA arrays to find new patterns of gene expression after administering drugs such as lithium and antidepressants to cultured brain cells.

Dr. Jerry Warsh has identified specific signal transduction abnormalities related to calcium, using blood cells from people with bipolar disorder.

Dr. Sagar Parikh has started a Canada-wide study of the effectiveness of psychoeducation and cognitive therapy for people with bipolar disorder.

Investigations, led by Drs. R. Michael Bagby and Helen Mayberg, continue to compare 1. brain functioning of people with depression and 2. brain functioning of people whose personality types are thought to make them vulnerable to depression, but who have never developed a depressive episode. Results indicate that the brain functioning in never-depressed, but vulnerable, people was similar to that of people who had previously had a depressive episode.

Dr. Bagby is also examining how changes in personality during treatment may predict outcome in different types of psychotherapies.

In the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Unit, Dr. Zindel Segal and Dr. Mayberg collaborated on a study comparing cognitive therapy to antidepressant medication. Using PET scans, they found patterns of changes in brain metabolism in patients who responded to cognitive therapy; these patterns differed from those of people who responded to antidepressant treatment.

Dr. Mark Lau has shown interesting differences in vulnerability to depression using psychological tests in people with depression. His team also continues their internationally recognized trials comparing the effectiveness of cognitive therapy and medications for relapse prevention.

Anxiety Disorders

In the Anxiety Disorders Clinic, the OCD group has been very busy developing a new brief cognitive therapy treatment for people who have concurrent obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and depression, and testing the efficacy of cognitive therapy for medication-refractory OCD.

In collaboration with Dr. Jim Kennedy, Dr. Richter's group have also replicated their earlier finding about the possible role of a serotonin receptor gene in OCD, which conceivably may lead to improved diagnosis and treatment in the future.

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