major depressive disorder

March 2, 2023

Sex counts in the brain as seasons change

Photoperiod, or length of day, has sex-specific impacts on dopamine dynamics in the brain, offering insights into sex differences in neuropsychiatric disorders, Vanderbilt researchers report.

By Paul Govern
July 11, 2022

A speedier treatment for depression?

Vanderbilt researchers used a computer-based search to identify a compound with promise as a new, mechanistically distinct and rapid-acting therapy for major depressive disorder.

By Paul Govern
October 15, 2020

Noninvasive treatment for refractory OCD, major depression shows promise for lifelong benefits

Four months ago, a multidisciplinary care team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center treated a patient with lifelong major depressive disorder (MDD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) — conditions that left her debilitated with intrusive thoughts, constant fear, suicidal intent and anorexia.

By Kelsey Herbers
March 28, 2019

Treatment resistance of mental disorders studied

With the aid of a four-year, $3.4 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) will apply new techniques to investigate treatment resistance of two devastating mental disorders — major depressive disorder, which befalls 15 percent of people at some point in their lives, and schizophrenia, which affects approximately 1 percent.

By Paul Govern
October 1, 2018

Cytokine-cognition connection

Targeting the immune system may provide a new avenue for therapeutic intervention in psychiatric diseases characterized by motivational and cognitive deficits.

By Laura Daniel
depressed man
October 8, 2015

Depression poses heart risk for HIV patients: study

The first study to suggest that major depressive disorder (MDD) is an independent risk factor for heart failure in HIV-positive adults has been published in Circulation.

By Kathy Whitney