biological treatment

Question 1

antidepressants

Answer 1

• depression could be caused by a chemical imbalance in neurotransmitters
• it could be treated by increasing serotonin levels by using SSRIs
• they have found to be effective in around 70% of patients after 4-8 weeks of treatment

Question 2

Arnone eat al (2013) quasi experiment

Answer 2

• to investigate whether grey matter loss in the hippocampus changes in response to antidepressants
• 64 depressed patients and 66 healthy controls. experimental group was treated with cítalopram for 8 weeks. all individuals underwent MRI scans to measure grey matter concentration before and after medication
• all participants with depression had reduced amounts of grey matter in their hippocampus at the beginning of the study, compared to healthy controls- after 8 weeks, participants with depression who were treated with cítalopram had an increase in grey matter with some of the participants experiencing decrease of symptoms
• antidepressants seem to work by increasing grey matter in brain areas that have experienced matter loss related to depression

Question 3

ketamine

Answer 3

• depression could be caused by neural network dysfunction (neural rigidity and failure to communicate)
• it could be treated by increasing neuro genesis and network communication
• ketamine is an antagonist from glutamate, which at low doses (sub-anesthetic) can have a paradoxical effect that increases glutamate, which facilitates dendritic branching and synaptic connectivity

Question 4

Siegel eat all (2021) quasi experiment

Answer 4

• to investigare the efficacy of prolonged infusion of ketamine in reducing depressive symptoms
• 23 individuals who wear suffering from treatment resistant depression, and 27 matched non-depressed control. depression was measured at baseline, 24h, 2 and 8 weeks. researchers also used fMRI to examine changes in the brain regions associated with depression and compare them with controls
• all participants int he ketamine condition had statistically significant decrease in hyper connectivity within lambic system and an increased connectivity between lambic system and frontal areas of the brain
• a singled prolonged infusion of ketamine provides a tolorated, rapid, and sustained response in treatment-resistant depression, and normalized hyper connectivity in the lambic system and frontal lobe