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SUMMARY:Neurocognitive Predictors of Depression Relapse - Dr Quentin Huys\
 , University College London
DTSTART:20210325T123000Z
DTEND:20210325T133000Z
UID:TALK156244@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:87079
DESCRIPTION:*Abstract:* The burden of depression is to no small part due t
 o its chronic or recurring nature. As such\, the maintenance of any treatm
 ent gains is of paramount importance. A key step in this process is the de
 cision to discontinue antidepressant medication. However\, at present ther
 e are no predictors to\nindicate who can safely discontinue medication.  T
 he AIDA study recruited 123 patients who had remitted on antidepressant me
 dication and were intent on\ndiscontinuing their medication. Patients were
  randomized into two groups.  Both groups underwent two extensive assessme
 nts involving clinical\, behavioural\, imaging and biochemical assessments
 \, but one group was tested before and after\ndiscontinuing antidepressant
 s\, while the other was tested twice before discontinuation. Patients were
  followed up for 6 months to monitor for relapses. 57 healthy\, never-depr
 essed matched controls were recruited. Of 104 patients\nwho completed at l
 east one assessment\, 84 completed the study\, with 34 relapsing during th
 e follow-up. Amongst standard clinical variables\, only treatment by\nnon-
 specialists was robustly associated with relapse (p=0.005)\, but did not p
 redict relapse out-of-sample. In contrast\, several behavioural (effort-re
 lated)\, psychological (brooding rumination\, neuroticism) and imaging\n(E
 EG alpha asymmetry and task-related fMRI amygdala activation) variables ha
 d predictive power\, while resting-state connectivity showed some effects 
 of\ndiscontinuation. Overall\, relapse after antidepressant discontinuatio
 n can be predicted by a number of variables. A combination of these may re
 ach an accuracy\nsufficient to have clinical relevance.\n\n*Biography:* Dr
  Huys is a Clinical Associate Professor in Computational Psychiatry at the
  Division of Psychiatry and the Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Ps
 ychiatry and Ageing Research at University College London\, and an Honorar
 y Consultant Psychiatrist with the Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Tru
 st. He started training at Gonville and Caius College\, Cambridge Universi
 ty\, followed by a MB/PhD at UCL Medical School and the Gatsby Computation
 al Neuroscience Unit (with Peter Dayan). Dr Huys research interest is in C
 omputational psychiatry\, with particular focus on developing computationa
 l tools to improve patient outcomes in depression and addictive disorders.
  For detailed biography of Dr Huys\, please visit:  https://quentinhuys.co
 m/index.html\n\n
LOCATION: Webinar  (via Zoom online)
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