Late Life Depression (LLD)

The purpose of this research study is to examine how well a medication called lumateperone (Caplyta) works to relieve depression in older adults with treatment-resistant depression. Lumateperone (Caplyta) is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat Major Depressive Disorder in adults who are also taking another antidepressant medication. This study will compare lumateperone (Caplyta) to placebo (a sugar pill without medication).

The goal of this observational study is to learn about the ability of a point risk score prediction model, developed using electronic medical record data, to predict the risk of progression from geriatric depression to dementia in older Chinese adults. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does a higher point risk score increase the risk of developing dementia in older adults with depression? What is the accuracy of the point risk score prediction model in identifying individuals at high risk of dementia among older adults with depression? Participants will receive their usual medical care as they normally would. No new treatments, tests, or procedures will be performed specifically for this study. The research team will collect data from their electronic medical records, including depression diagnoses, dementia diagnoses, comorbidities, medication records, and follow-up information. The point risk score will be calculated based on these routinely collected clinical data.

The purpose of this research study is to determine the effectiveness of Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) therapy in the treatment of participants with Late-life depression (LLD). The study will evaluate feasibility, safety, and tolerability of high-dose (6mA) bilateral tDCS delivered as three daily sessions, 3 times a week, for 3 weeks in older adults (60 y/o and older) with late-life depression.

The purpose of this trial is to compare the treatment efficacy (improvement in depressive symptoms) of accelerated TBS protocol (where participants receive multiple TBS treatments daily) to conventional TBS protocol (where participants receive a single TBS treatment daily) in late life depression. In addition, the study also aims to determine if specific patterns of stimulation are more or less effective. To do this, all participants will receive active treatments, but some of the participants in this study will receive accelerated TBS and some will receive once daily TBS.

The purpose of this research study is to characterize the mechanisms contributing to cognitive impairment and accelerated cognitive decline in Late Life Depression (LLD). This is a non-randomized, observational, non-treatment study that originally launched in 2015, enrolling 133 participants. From the originally enrolled participants, the continuation of the ADNI-D study will enroll 120 participants which will include following participants from the original (parent) protocol and enrollment of new participants for a period of 30 months. Data from an additional 300 non-depressed subjects will be used from ADNI studies for comparison. Depression history, symptom severity and health information will be collected at the initial visit to determine eligibility. An magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, as well as amyloid (florbetapir) and tau (flortaucipr) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging will be conducted at San Francisco VA. Collection of plasma and serum for biomarkers, clinical assessments and cognitive assessments will be conducted at two time points. Blood samples will also be collected for genetic analysis.