Note: This study is currently only recruiting patients in the hospital.

If you are interested in being notified if this study begins recruiting from the general population, please use the 'I Am Interested' button below.

Research Study on Brain Connections in Adolescence

We are asking teens ages 14-16 and one of their parents to be part of our study on brain connections in adolescence. Teens and parents will answer questions about thoughts and feelings, and teens will get MRI brain scans.

Massachusetts General Hospital McLean Hospital Massachusetts Institute of Technology Boston University Medical Center Depression Teen Mental Health Anxiety
3 sessions over 1 year
Estimated Time Commitment
Any Sex/Gender, 14-16 years
May Be Eligible
Payment up to $420
May Be Offered
Survey, Office visit, MRI scan
May Be Required
 
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This project is not recruiting.

Overview

What we are studying

The goal of this study is to look at brain differences between adolescents who have anxiety or depression and those who do not. Specifically, we will investigate structural and functional brain biomarkers related to anxiety and depression by collecting state-of-the-art neuroimaging data and behavioral data from adolescents with depression and/or anxiety disorders, as well as healthy adolescents.


 


Why it is important

This project will address the pressing need to understand the brain basis of some of the most frequent and destructive mental health problems of adolescents that are also conceptualized as the roots of much adult psychopathology. Adolescence is a critical age for mental health, as half of lifetime diagnosable mental health disorders start by age 14. Depression and anxiety occur at high rates in adolescence, and are highly comorbid. Despite major advances, psychiatric care for these disorders is still hampered by the difficulty in predicting which treatment will work for which patient based on conventional diagnostic methods. In response to such challenges, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has recently introduced Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), a novel approach to classifying mental disorders based on behavioral and neurobiological measures. Rather than constricting biological research by conventional DSM-V clinical diagnostic groupings, RDoC posits a matrix of functional dimensions that map onto brain systems at multiple levels of analysis, including behavior and brain circuits. 


 


What we hope to accomplish

The goal is to determine whether MRI biomarkers that characterize these brain circuits can be used to predict clinical outcome for adolescents with depression and anxiety disorders with greater accuracy than that of conventional diagnostic tools. 

Principal Investigator

Aude I Henin, PhD

Massachusetts General Hospital

Public Profile

Who can participate

General Inclusion Criteria:



  • Adolescents, ages 14-16, who have at least one parent willing to participate in study assessments.

  • Fluent in English


Healthy Volunteers

Healthy volunteers are eligible for this study

Additional exclusion criteria for healthy participants


During the participant's life:



  • History of DSM-5 disorder(s), including depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, PTSD, obsessive disorder, eating disorders, substance use disorders, psychosis, mental retardation.

Who cannot participate

General Exlcusion Criteria


During the participant's life:



  • Autism spectrum disorders (ASD)

  • Hospitalization for two days or longer for neurological or cardiovascular disease

  • Two or more non-provoked (e.g., not due to fever) seizures after age 5 or a diagnosis of epilepsy

  • Any genetic disorder, such as cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease

  • Multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy

  • Any brain tumor

  • Any cancer treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation, and/or any stage 4 (metastatic) cancer even if not treated

  • Diagnosis of and/or treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, HIV or lupus (systemic lupus erythmatosis or SLE) or another condition requiring long-term use of steroids

  • Hospitalization for stroke, brain aneurysm, brain hemorrhage, or subdural hematoma

  • Diabetes

  • Any of the following head injuries: Loss of consciousness for >30 minutes; or amnesia for >24 hours; or change in mental status for >24 hours; or neuroimaging findings consistent with traumatic brain injury; or persistent (>3 months) post-concussive symptoms following concussion or mild traumatic brain injury (TBI).


Within the last 5 years:



  • Pharmacologic treatment by a neurologist or endocrinologist for a period of 12 months of longer

  • Dialysis


Within the last 1 year:



  • Diagnosis of thyroid problems and/or changing doses of thyroid medication


Current:



  • Pregnant

  • Unsafe metal or devices in the body (e.g., cardiac pacemaker, cochlear implant, aneurism clip)

  • Moderate to severe claustrophobia

  • Use of medication to prevent migraines (migraines are allowed if not taking daily preventive medications)

  • Migraine less than 72 hours before the first visit or during the visit

  • High blood pressure

  • Treatment with glucocorticoids such as cortisone, drugs to prevent rejection of an organ transplant, or any other drug meant to affect the immune system


Additional Exclusion Criteria


During the last 6 months:



  • Presence of serious mental illness, or acuity of current psychiatric symptoms (e.g., psychosis, bipolar disorder, mania or severe depression, severe aggression, suicidality, drug or alcohol dependence)

  • Use of antipsychotic or mood-stabilizer medication

What you may be asked to do

The study requires 3 visits and an online follow-up over a period of 1 year. Each of these sessions will last somewhere between 1 and 4 hours.



  • Study visit 1: You and your child will talk separately to a psychologist and complete some questionnaires.

  •  Study visit 2 (at the MGH MRI center in Charlestown Navy Yard): Your child will complete some additional questionnaires and he or she will be scanned in an MRI scanner. Visits 1 and 2 will have to happen within 2 weeks of each other.

  • Online follow-up: 6 months after the MRI scans, your child be asked to complete some questionnaires online.

  • Study visit 3: A year after the MRI scans, you and your child will complete questionnaires similar to the first visit. 


Project activities may include:

  • Survey
  • Office visit
  • MRI scan

Estimated Time Commitment

3 sessions over 1 year

What You May Get

There is no cost to participants for involvement. We will compensate for travel and parking expenses at MGH. We will also provide the parent and child with a payment for each completed visit. If both parent and child complete the entire study, the total payments can be up to $345 for the child and $75 for the parent. We will also provide copies of the child's brain images from the MRI scanner.

Location

Child Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Program
151 Merrimac Street, 3rd Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02114

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Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at the Massachusetts General Hospital
149 13th St, Charlestown, MA 02129

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Travel

  • Parking reimbursed
  • Travel reimbursed
  • Parking available
  • Accessible by public transportation
  • Local travel reimbursed

Travel and Parking Details

Additional Information

Project Website

http://www.humanconnectome.org/ccf/


Participating Institutions


Funding Source

  • NIH or Other Federal
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