Research Clinics

Yale Depression Research Program | Measurement of GABA

¹³C Measurement of GABA Synthesis and Glutamate/Glutamine Cycling in Depression
[HIC #25891]

From previous studies, we know that many depressed patients have abnormalities in their levels of amino acid neurotransmitters such as glutamate and GABA. These are the two most abundant neurotransmitters in the brain, and are responsible for more than 90% of the chemical communication between brain cells. The purpose of this study is to identify why some depressed patients have these abnormalities. We believe that depressed patients may differ in how their brains generate and degrade these neurotransmitters. Since the neurotransmitters are built from glucose (sugar), researchers are able to investigate how these neurotransmitters are made and used in the brain by giving research subjects a special form of glucose. This glucose contains a naturally occurring form of carbon that poses no health risks, but allows the researchers to see how the neurotransmitters are being made and used in the brain using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). MRS is very similar to the commonly used MRI scans to provide structural information to clinicians and researchers, however MRS provides information about the amount of the specific neurotransmitters in the brain. The researchers hope that gaining a greater understanding of how the depressed brain uses these amino acid neurotransmitters will provide direction to the development of more effective and rapidly acting treatments for the disorder.

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