NEUROIMAGING CENTER
Affective Disorders Laboratory
Dr. Michael Henry |
According to the World Health Organization, depression is the second leading cause of disability in the world. Depression afflicts approximately one in four women and one in eight men during their adult lives. Also, as many as 50 percent of all individuals suffering from major depression will have a second episode.
Through research in the Affective Disorders Laboratory at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., Michael Henry, M.D., and his colleagues are studying the changes that occur in brain chemistry during the early stages of a relapse.
The primary diagnostic tools for the research are magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and genomics, which is the study of genes and their functions. The team believes that by better understanding factors involved in depression and the effect of antidepressants, they can identify new molecular targets in the brain that may be receptive to antidepressant treatments. The results could also help design a test to determine which depressed individuals are at risk for relapse.