Researchers in this small 12-week trial of an SSRI in depression looked at grey matter volume at the beginning of the trial and cognitive and mood changes by the end of the trial. Subjects were aged 55 and over (n=34). The researchers found that a larger improvement in mood was associated with greater grey matter volume in several areas including the Cingulate gyrus as well as the superior and middle Frontal gyri.
This Cochrane trial looked at methods for retaining recruits to randomised trials. The reviewers concluded that incentives either after return of a completed questionnaire or with the questionnaire with a further incentive were the most effective methods for retaining recruits.
Researchers in this study looked at the outcome in mood disorders in the period before the widespread introduction of antidepressants, major tranquilisers and mood stabilisers. Subjects were follow up for between 1 and 30 years. The studies included 14,000 people and were published before 1970. The researchers had three main findings
1. Median rate of recovery was lower than in more recent studies
2. The time to recovery was longer than in more recent studies
3. The rate of recovery was higher than in more recent studies.
However there were methodological limitations. For instance antidepressants were introduced in the 1950’s and so this does not preclude the use of effective antidepressants in these older studies.
Appendix
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