2014 NASAD Independent investigator grantees - Depression

seeks to advance understanding of how inflammation influences depression. Studies of animal models of depression show that inflammation is detrimental to neurogenesis, the birth of new neurons, in the hippocampal region of the brain. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants appear to work by spurring neurogenesis. The study will compare expression of inflammatory chemicals called cytokines in the hippocampus of postmortem brains of untreated depression patients, SSRI-treated patients and healthy controls.