Fabiano Nery
University of Cincinnati, OH·Medicine & Clinical Research
Depression and bipolar disorder usually begin in the teens and early twenties. Young people with depression are often prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the standard antidepressants.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Neuroscience
Psychology
- Topics
depression
major depressive disorder
bipolar disorder
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2030
What they work on
- Measure how glutamate levels in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex change after 8 weeks of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and/or mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in youth aged 15–24 with mild depression, using proton MR spectroscopy.
- Determine how functional connectivity within prefrontal–limbic circuits and large-scale emotion and attention networks changes with NAC and/or mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, using resting-state fMRI.
- Compare four arms of a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 160 medication-free depressed youth to test whether NAC and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy have additive or synergistic effects on the brain.
- Explore whether brain and blood biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation, measured at baseline and endpoint, predict which depressed youth respond to NAC, mindfulness therapy or both.
More about the research
Yet youth are especially prone to side effects such as switching into mania, irritability, agitation and suicidal thoughts. This is a particular concern for those whose parent or sibling has bipolar disorder. Safer, effective first treatments are needed.
Why it matters
Youth with depression, especially those with a close relative who has bipolar disorder, are at risk of harmful reactions to standard antidepressants. Showing whether NAC and mindfulness therapy change brain chemistry and connectivity, alone or together, and which blood or brain markers predict response, could provide the evidence needed for larger trials. Those trials could test these interventions as safer early treatment options for this high-risk group.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Melissa Delbello
University of Cincinnati, OH·Neuroscience
Track four-year trajectories of ventral prefrontal network connectivity, brain circuits for mood and risk-reward processing, in youth with versus without a family history of bipolar I disorder.
Manish Jha
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, TX·Neuroscience·Early-career
Identify patterns of resting-state functional connectivity linked to irritability, using 7 Tesla fMRI in 30 healthy adults and 60 adults with major depressive disorder.
Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli
Northeastern University, MA·Psychology
Test whether mindfulness-based real-time fMRI neurofeedback engages its intended brain target by reducing hyperconnectivity within the default mode network, the circuit active during inward self-focused thought, in adolescents aged 13 to 18 with major depressive disorder.
The school
University of Cincinnati: 18 labs on PI Pages, $740M a year on research, 275 research doctorates a year.
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