Methodology and preliminary results from the neurobiology of late-life depression study

Abstract

Background We sought to investigate the relationship between neuroticism and depression in an elderly cohort. In this paper, we describe the methods of an NIMH-supported study and present findings among the cohort enrolled to date. Methods We used the NEO Personality Inventory to assess neuroticism, and we employed several cognitive neuroscience-based measures to examine emotional control. Results Compared with a group of 27 non-depressed older control subjects, 33 older depressed subjects scored higher on measures of state and trait anxiety and neuroticism. On our experimental neuroscience-based measures, depressed subjects endorsed more negative words compared with controls on an emotional characterization test. In addition, we found a significant group-by-congruency effect on an emotional interference test where subjects were asked to identify the face’s emotional expression while ignoring the words “fear” or “happy” labeled across the face. Conclusion Thus, in this preliminary work, we found significant differences in measures of neuroticism and emotional controls among older adults with and without depression.

Prevalence and associated factors of comorbid anxiety disorders in late-life depression: findings from geriatric tertiary outpatient settings

“…Focusing more on the “state–trait anxiety theory” of personality playing a role in developing comorbid anxiety in late-life depression, neuroticism was found to be a variable that was correlated, confirming the results of related studies 2,10. Notably, the interactions among neuroticism, depression and anxiety among the elderly are complex and need further investigation, with some evidence of anxiety being a moderator for depression.…”

“…Determinants of comorbid anxiety disorders were lower age, female gender, low level of education, higher severity of depression, early traumatization, neuroticism, extraversion and conscientiousness 2. Depressed elderly scored higher on measures of state and trait anxiety and neuroticism 10…”

Neuroticism Traits Selectively Impact Long Term Illness Course and Cognitive Decline in Late-Life Depression

“…Overall, this body of evidence suggests elevated neuroticism in older adults may therefore: 1) predispose or perpetuate acute episodes of major depression via underlying chronic limbic overactivity (15), and 2) contribute to a chronic stress response that induces neuronal dysfunction increasing susceptibility to cognitive decline and dementia (16). Neuroticism is frequently elevated in LLD (17), yet the long-term clinical trajectory of acute major depression superimposed on neuroticism in older adults is not well understood.…”

Decreased between‐hemisphere connectivity strength and network efficiency in geriatric depression

“…The data was collected from the National Institute of Mental Health-supported project entitled "Neurobiology and Adverse Outcomes of Neuroticism in Late-life Depression" (1R01MH096725). The detailed recruitment criteria have been described elsewhere [Steffens et al, 2015] and in Supporting Information. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data was acquired from a 3.0-Tesla Siemen's Skyra scanner from Olin Neuropsychological Research Center (ONRC) with the following parameters: B 0 5 1,000 s/mm 2 , flip angle 5 908, TR/ TE 5 17,000 ms/78 ms, imaging matrix 5 128 3 128, FOV 5 256 3 256 mm 2 , 72 contiguous slices, resulting in a voxel dimension of 2 3 2 3 2 mm 3 reconstructed resolution.…”