With a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (PI: George S. Alexopoulos, M.D.), the Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry established the Intervention Research Center for Geriatric Mood Disorders (IRC).  The IRC is one of three centers in the country dedicated to studies of the etiology, course, and treatment of late-life depression and mania.

Late-life depression as a rule occurs in individuals who have lived normal and productive lives.  Depression can be a result of changes in the aging brain or be due to concurrent common medical conditions such as vascular and degenerative diseases.  Psychosocial events, including the loss of a loved one, social isolation and pain, may precipitate depression in medically or biologically predisposed persons.

The IRC research focuses on three overarching themes: the long-term outcome of depression, the pathophysiology of depression in older adults, and the treatment of geriatric mood disorders.  We regard geriatric mood disorders as heterogeneous syndromes and believe that they can best be studied by clinical and biological investigations that use outcomes as their principal validating criterion.  The IRC is comprised of senior and junior investigators with complementary skills and interests who conduct integrated studies of the biological and psychosocial characteristics and treatment of geriatric mood disorders.  We study a variety of geriatric populations including psychiatric patients, nursing home residents, primary care patients, and persons living in the community.  The Center's investigative techniques include systematic clinical observation, neuropsychological testing, structural and functional neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and cerebral blood flow.

Using an integrative approach, the IRC has identified specific subtypes of mood disorders with distinct clinical and biological characteristics and illness course, and has studied the effectiveness of depression treatment in the community.  Our preliminary studies of depression subtypes suggest that dysfunction of the brain's basal ganglia and their projections to the frontal lobes contribute to the development of depression, influence the depression's response to treatment, and even predict early relapse of depression.  Our community studies have found that late-life depression is often unrecognized, and even when recognized, it is often undertreated.  The findings from these IRC studies have been incorporated into clinical practice and have guided improvements of care delivery. 

For more information, or to become a research participant please call our IRC at 914-997-4331