Treatment Response of Geriatric Depression
Condition: Depression
MeSH terms: Depression; Depressive Disorder
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between brain electrical activity in
      elderly depressed patients and response to antidepressant medication treatment. Elderly
      patients with depression will be treated for 12 weeks with an antidepressant medication
      commonly used in clinical practice called escitalopram (Lexapro). Brain electrical activity
      will be assessed using electrophysiological tests. Researchers are interested in whether the
      brain electrical activity of elderly people with depression before they start the medication
      can tell us who amongst them will improve with antidepressant treatment and to what extent.
      They will also determine whether patients' brain electrical activity during the 12 weeks of
      medication treatment will change in any way and whether this change will be linked with a
      change in the severity of their depression. Researchers hope that information gained from
      this study will help to better understand the brain processes associated with depression and
      its successful treatment.
    

Detailed description: 
      This research study will examine how the brain electrical activity of elderly depressed
      patients is related to how quickly and how well they respond to antidepressant medication
      treatment. Brain electrical activity will be assessed using electrophysiological tests.
      Elderly patients with depression will be treated for 12 weeks with an antidepressant
      medication commonly used in clinical practice called escitalopram (Lexapro). Before they
      start treatment, patients will be asked questions about their depression to measure how
      severe it is. They will also be asked to have their brain electrical activity recorded while
      they perform tests on a computer screen. The questions about their depression and the brain
      electrical recordings will be repeated regularly during the 12 weeks they will be treated
      with antidepressant medication. The researchers are interested to see whether the brain
      electrical activity of elderly people with depression before they start the medication can
      tell us who amongst them and to what extent will finally improve with treatment with
      escitalopram (Lexapro). They will also determine whether patients' brain electrical activity,
      during the 12 weeks they will be receiving the medication treatment, will change in any way
      and whether this change will be linked with the change in the severity of their depression.
      It is hoped that information gained from this study will help the investigators to better
      understand the brain processes associated with depression and its successful treatment.
    

Intervention name(s): Escitalopram
Intervention type(s): Drug
Intervention description(s): 20 mg by mouth daily
Other intervention name(s): Lexapro
Intervention MeSH terms: Escitalopram
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Depression