The fMRI study of reward system in the patient with major depressive disorder: Is the disturbance of the system a biological marker of treatment-resistant depression ?

• Project/Area Number: 25860981
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Psychiatric science
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: HASHIMOTO Naoki 北海道大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 客員研究員 (40615895)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2014)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥900,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥2,340,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥540,000)
• Keywords: うつ病 / functional MRI / 報酬系 / 報酬予測課題 / 難治性うつ病 / ドパミン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We scanned eleven normal subjects and eleven patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) using 1.5T MRI. In this analysis, the activation of the ventral striatum at high reward condition in MDD patients was significantly lower than that in normal control. We did not find any significant relationship between activity of ventral striatum and stress events nor temperament. After exchange of MRI scanner, we scanned 81 normal control subjects and find a significant higher activation at high reward condition in ventral striatum comparing to activation at no reward condition. Furthermore, we find (1) no smoking history, (2)higher TEMPS_anxiety, and (3) lower TEMPS_cyclothymic predict higher activation of ventral striatum. Now we are increasing a number of the subjects of patients with major depression and examining the relation ship between ventral striatum activation and treatment-resistant depression.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Neurocognitive impairments and quality of life in unemployed patients with remitted major depressive disorder. (2013)
  • Author(s): Shimizu Y, Kitagawa N, Mitsui N, Fujii Y, Toyomaki A, Hashimoto N, Kako Y, Tanaka T, Asakura S, Kusumi I
  • Journal Title: Psychiatry Research Volume: 210 Issue: 3 Pages: 913-918
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2013.08.030
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Severity of generalized social anxiety disorder correlates with low executive functioning. (2013)
  • Author(s): Fujii Y, Kitagawa N, Shimizu Y, Mitsui N, Toyomaki A, Hashimoto N, Kako Y, Tanaka T, Asakura S, Koyama T, Kusumi I.
  • Journal Title: neuroscience letter Volume: 543 Pages: 42-46
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2013.02.059
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Suicide Intervention Skills Among Japanese Medical Residents. (2013)
  • Author(s): Fujisawa D, Suzuki, Y., Kato, A.T., Hashimoto, N., Sato, R., Aoyama-Uehara, K., Fukasawa, M., Tomita, M., Watanabe, K., Kashima, H., Otsuka, K.
  • Journal Title: Academic Psychiatry Volume: 37 Issue: 6 Pages: 402-407
  • DOI: 10.1176/appi.ap.10110154
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] Difference of reward system activation in patients with schizophrenia treated with olanzapine, blonanserine and aripiprazole-2nd report. (2013)
  • Author(s): Naoki Hashimoto, Atsuhito Toyomaki, Tamaki Miyamoto, Ichiro Kusumi.
  • Organizer: Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: San Diego Convention Center (San Diego, USA)