Anxiety & Depression Association of America

The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of two different exercise training regimens for managing depression and improving other health indicators among persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). The project will enroll persons with MS and major depressive disorder (MDD) between 18 and 64 years of age. The investigators will enroll a total of 146 participants. This is a Phase-II trial that compares the efficacy of an exercise training program (POWER-MS) compared with a stretching program (FLEX-MS) for immediate and sustained reductions in the severity of depression among persons with MS who have MDD.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2023

open study

Depression and anxiety disorders rank in the top ten causes of years lived with disability. Less than 50% of patients experiencing long-lasting improvements to current gold-standard treatments. Two gold-standard behavioral interventions include behavioral activation, focused on enhancing approach behavior towards meaningful activities, and exposure-based therapy, focused on decreasing avoidance and challenging negative expectations. While these interventions have divergent treatment targets, there is little knowledge to inform which strategies should be used in the frequent case of comorbid anxiety and depression. Approach-avoidance decision-making paradigms focus on assessing responses when faced with potential rewards and threats, tapping into processes important for both anxiety and depression as well as behavioral activation and exposure-based therapy. For this study, investigators will recruit individuals reporting both anxiety and depression symptoms and randomize them to one of three different interventions: (1) behavioral activation, (2) exposure-based therapy, and a non-specific therapy approach (3) supportive therapy. Participants will complete clinical, self-report, behavioral, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) assessments before and after therapy. Investigators will use a computational approach to model factors that may influence one's behavior during approach-avoidance decision-making, including drives to avoid threat versus approach reward and confidence versus uncertainty in one's decisions. This project will accomplish the following aims (1) Determine how changes in brain and behavior responses during approach-avoidance conflict relate to changes in mental health symptoms with the different therapy approaches, (2) Determine the degree to which baseline brain and behavior responses during approach-avoidance conflict predict response to the different therapy approaches, above and beyond the influence of demographics and baseline symptom severity. In addition, by including peripheral blood draws and measures of grace matter volume, the project will also accomplish the following aims: (1) Determine whether kynrenine metabolites measures peripherally may be beneficial as a biomarker of treatment response and (2) determine whether there is an association between change in kynurenine metabolites and changes in gray matter volume with treatment. Results will enhance understanding of how different psychotherapy approaches (behavioral activation, exposure-based therapy) may impact brain responses and decisions when faces with potential reward versus threat and approach versus avoidance drives. In addition, results will have important implications concerning the potential for a more personalized approach to psychotherapy, enhancing knowledge of which types of therapy strategies may be most beneficial for which individuals.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2020

open study

Treatment resistant depression remains a major problem for individuals and society. Surgical procedures may provide relief for some of these patients. The most frequently considered surgical approach is deep brain stimulation (DBS) of a part of the brain called the subcallosal cingulate region. However, the effectiveness and safety is not well established. The investigators will use a novel approach using advanced imaging technique (magnetic resonance tractography) to evaluate the feasibility and safety of this surgical approach. An innovative method for the definition of DBS target will be applied that redefines the concept of targeting as one of targeting a symptomatic network rather than a structural brain region using subject-based brain anatomy to define the target location. The correlation between imaging findings at baseline with the mood score changes at different time points of the study will be investigated.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2022

open study

This study is being done to see if outcomes for both a premature infant's parents and the infant born prematurely who have spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can be improved through parent cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) sessions.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2019

open study

The investigators have developed interactive, multimedia-intensive, computer-based treatment programs that include depression (Problem-Solving Therapy), stress management, and conflict management. Together the three modules are called PATH. The problem-solving module is based on an evidence-based psychotherapy called Problem-Solving Therapy in which depressed patients identify problems in their lives and work through a structured format for solving these problems. We have subjected the problem-solving module to Phase 1-3 feasibility, acceptability and efficacy trials which have been positive and without adverse events. The conflict program uses a cognitive-behavioral-therapy-based approach. The program includes a conflict briefing, an interactive conflict simulation, a conflict assessment tool, an interactive training exercise in interest-based negotiation, and a cognitive restructuring exercise. The stress program also uses a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) approach. In the program, the mentor introduces the "stress pyramid", which demonstrates how stress triggers can lead to different feelings, actions and thoughts, which are analogs to the CBT realms of dysfunctional emotions, maladaptive behaviors, and faulty cognitive processes. The stress management content is delivered over 6 sessions, with each session including exercises in the 3 domains of thoughts, feelings, and actions. The program includes briefings, cognitive restructuring exercises, interactive scenarios, and self-assessments. This program has been evaluated with law and business students and was shown effective in reducing stress levels. The purpose of the current study is to make the problem-solving, stress, and the conflict modules available through the internet for any adult 18 or older in order to assess their feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness under naturalistic conditions.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2016

open study

A Phase 3 Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study (Part A) with an Open-label Extension (Part B) Evaluating MM120 Compared to Placebo in Major Depressive Disorder - Emerge

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2025

open study

The Biomarkers/Biotypes, Course of Early Psychosis and Specialty Services (BICEPS) study aims to understand the early stages of psychotic disorders like Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder, and Bipolar I Disorder. It involves gathering mental health information, brain scans (MRI), eye movement patterns (Eye-Tracking), and brain electrical waves (EEG) data from individuals who have experienced these disorders in recent years. Participants will be involved for about a year, with four visits over this period. Screening procedures, lasting approximately 3 hours, include tests for drug use, a pregnancy test for eligible women, clinical interviews about feelings and experiences, psychiatric and family history interviews, and a medical history review. Research procedures for eligible participants include DNA collection, a neuropsychological test battery, EEG, eye-tracking, and MRI. These procedures will help researchers understand brain function, genetics, and cognitive abilities related to psychotic disorders. Follow-up visits at 1-month, 6-month, and 12-month intervals involve modified clinical interviews and repeating neuropsychological tests to track changes over time. Participants may opt to provide DNA samples for genetic analysis, undergo various cognitive tests, EEG to record brain waves, eye-tracking to monitor eye movements, and MRI scans to visualize brain structure. Follow-up visits at regular intervals will help researchers track changes in symptoms and cognitive function. This study provides comprehensive insight into the onset and progression of psychotic disorders and offers valuable information for patients, families, and healthcare providers involved in managing these conditions. Our goal is to better understand whether a combination of biological markers and different types of people (BT1, BT2, BT3) can help us predict how well individuals with early psychosis respond to specialized care. We expect that those in BT3 will have the best outcomes, BT2 will have intermediate outcomes, and BT1 will have the poorest outcomes. Even though BT1 and BT2 might start with similar cognitive issues, their biology might lead to different responses to treatment. This research can help us understand which treatments work best for different people with early psychosis.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Jan 2023

open study

Investigators are conducting this study to test if temporarily and non-invasively stimulating the brain will affect the emotional response to stress in healthy participants. Participants will perform a series of tasks while completing an MRI scan. After this, participants will be randomized to undergo transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) at two visits, undergoing active stimulation at one visit and undergoing 'sham' stimulation at another visit. Immediately following both stimulation sessions, participants will repeat the tasks during MRI scanning.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2025

open study

This is an interventional, parallel arm assignment treatment study in individuals with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Each individual will be treated with a single dose of pimavanserin or placebo plus a single dose of psilocybin. Evaluations will be taken before dosing and following dosing at several timepoints up to 5 weeks post-dosing.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2025

open study

Investigators will recruit up to 10 patients with Anxiety comorbid with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from the outpatient clinics at MUSC. This pilot trial will be an open-label investigation of the safety and feasibility of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) as a nonpharmacological wearable intervention used to manage anxiety and other neuropsychiatric symptoms at home, with patients/caretakers self-administering treatments. Each subject will undergo an initial in-person screening and be consented prior to participating in the study. This will be followed by an in-person training session with the subject (and caretaker if applicable), where they will learn how to self-administer taVNS and ask any pertinent questions. Participants will self-administer taVNS at home twice daily for 4 weeks. These treatments will not interfere with other aspects of their mental health care. Our investigators, over the prior 8 years, have demonstrated that taVNS is safe and feasible in the outpatient setting. Furthermore, investigators have recently demonstrated that taVNS is well tolerated and safely self-administered at home with remote monitoring. The investigators hypothesize that taVNS will be safe and feasible to administer at home in this new population. Results from this study may lead to further exploration of taVNS in this unique population.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2024

open study

This study will examine how doing heated yoga or non-heated yoga affects depression.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2025

open study

This is a 2x2, within-subjects, cross-over trial to test the anti-depressant effects of acute exercise in 20 participants with bipolar depression. Participants will complete four experimental sessions, two with an exercise challenge and two with a resting control condition in a counterbalanced order. Participants will receive either 800mg of ibuprofen or placebo before exercise or rest in order to test whether blocking the inflammatory response to exercise interferes with the neural and psychological effects of exercise.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2024

open study

This project aims to adapt, implement, and evaluate a Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills training group intervention for aging adult family caregivers of person with Alzheimer's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) to reduce suicidality. By adapting this modality, the investigators will provide a scalable intervention tailored for this high-risk population, maximizing the public health impact and improving suicide prevention.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jan 2025

open study

The goal of this study is to test the efficacy and feasibility of a clinician-guided, app-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program, SilverCloud, as a school-based mental health intervention for vulnerable youth. An open trial of SilverCloud will be conducted to determine preliminary efficacy in this sample and inform program refinements by collecting outcome self-report assessments and conducting interviews on feasibility and acceptability. After the program and its implementation strategy are refined, we will conduct an randomized controlled trial. Adolescents who seek or are referred for mental health services through one of the study sites and screen positive for significant mental health symptoms will be randomized to receive SilverCloud or treatment as usual (TAU). Efficacy will be assessed through outcome self-reports. Feasibility and acceptability feedback will again be collected from participants, SBHC staff, and community members.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2024

open study

Individuals with stroke commonly experience both depression and cognitive difficulties. The goal of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a treatment that combines a digital therapeutic (an iPad-based cognitive training program) with learning cognitive strategies. The hypotheses are that this treatment will improve cognitive skills, depression symptoms, daily function, and brain connectivity. In the short-term, the findings will inform the efficacy of the intervention and in the long-term, may support the use of the intervention to improve co-occurring cognitive and mood difficulties after stroke.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2023

open study

The purpose of this study is to learn more about pregnant women's' experience with Reach Out, Stay Strong, Essentials for mothers of newborns (ROSE) and to evaluate the effectiveness of the ROSE program in preventing and reducing post-partum depressive symptoms, decreasing stress, and increasing social support among pregnant women.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2021

open study

In this study, we will analyze the role of virtual reality in acute pain and anxiety management for regional anesthesia in pre-operative patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jan 2020

open study

People often have difficulty sleeping. Reasons are many. But, difficulty falling and staying asleep are common issues. Sleep difficulties are common in disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Current treatments for sleep difficulties are not effective for everyone. Better treatments are needed. In this study, the investigators are testing two nerve stimulation locations that may impact brain function in such a way that sleep is improved.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jan 2020

open study

RAD is a 10-year natural history, longitudinal, prospective assessment study of a cohort of 2,500 participants (ages 10-24 years) that will help uncover the socio-demographic, lifestyle, clinical, psychological, and neurobiological factors that contribute to resilience among children, adolescents, and young adults at-risk for mood and anxiety disorders. As this is an exploratory study, we will assess a comprehensive panel of carefully selected participant specific parameters, including socio-demographic, life habits, clinical, biological, behavioral, neurophysiological, and neuroimaging. The study is designed to observe and collect factors associated with resilience in a non-invasive fashion; no interventions or treatments will be conducted during the project. Assessments will be conducted up to 4 times per year for up to 10 years, as well as a baseline visit. Study visits will be conducted in person whenever feasible but may be completed by phone/mail/computer, if an in-person visit is not possible.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Aug 2016

open study

The goal of the study is to address the unmet need of TRD patients by identifying brain networks critical for treating depression and to use next generation precision DBS with steering capability to engage these targeted networks. The study's goal will be achieved through 3 specific aims: 1. Demonstrate device capability to selectively and predictably engage distinct brain networks 2. Delineate depression-relevant networks and demonstrate behavioral changes with network-targeted stimulation 3. Demonstrate that chronic DBS using steered, individualized targeting is feasible and safe for reducing depressive symptoms

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Aug 2019

open study

The primary objective of this initiative is to implement a prospective study that will allow us to identify and validate biosignatures of response to treatments for depression and depression outcome (using an integrated array of participant specific data: socio-demographic, lifestyle, clinical and behavioral assessments, fluid-based biomarkers, genomics, neuroimaging, EEG, and cell-based assays) in a longitudinal cohort of subjects with elevated symptoms of a depressive disorder. Symptom remission across various treatment options will be assessed using questionnaires for symptom changes, antidepressant treatment tolerability and overall quality of life. Other outcomes generated from this study will include rate of change in quantitative measures of brain function, of depression relevant brain regions correlated with systems-levels behavior and other functional neuro-circuitry MRI measures. Rate of change of specified biochemical biomarkers will also be assessed. Integration of these measures will provide an unmatched understanding into the mechanisms of depression and hold tremendous promise for better disease treatment and associated outcomes.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Jun 2016

open study

The goal of this study is to investigate the effects of cannabis on brain function among adolescents with depression.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2025

open study

This is a randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of Resilience Training in college students with elevated transdiagnostic risk for developing a serious mental illness.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2025

open study

The study will adapt and deploy a digital Behavioral Activation app with mobile sensing, supported by health coaches, that encourages youth to engage in positive activities. The study has the potential to offer a low-cost and scalable behavioral intervention that may decrease risk of suicide among at-risk youth. This research will examine specifically whether an intervention involving an app called Vira, combined with health coaching (GET ActivE) can improve enjoyment for teens coping with depression. Research participants will be randomly assigned to one of two study intervention. One study intervention involves a) downloading an app called Vira and engaging by responding to a daily question, and b) participating in a conversation via text, phone, or messages through an appt with a health coach. The health coach will use the Vira app and principles from evidence-based therapy and behavior change to provide users with insights to sustain well-being and better manage risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors such as depressed mood and behavioral withdrawal. The second study intervention involves downloading an app called EARS and responding to a daily question.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2025

open study

The goal of this clinical trial is to examine the neural mechanisms underlying transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) using concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in both healthy controls (HCs) and patients with high negative affect symptoms, such as depression and anxiety. Approximately half male and half female participants aged 18-65 will be recruited. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Is the acute/transient effect induced by single-pulse TMS related to the long-term modulatory effect induced by repetitive TMS (rTMS)? 2. Do any of these effects predict negative affect symptoms, such as depression and anxiety? Participants will: 1. Complete several tests to assess their cognitive abilities and emotional states 2. Undergo several brain scans, including resting-state fMRI, structural MRI, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and task fMRI 3. Have two different types of TMS sequences, single-pulse and repetitive pulses, administered to specific brain regions while undergoing fMRI

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2024

open study