Major Depressive Disorder
Conditions
Keywords
Reward Processing, Wellbutrin, Bupropion
Brief summary
The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effects of a single-dose of Wellbutrin XL (bupropion hydrochloride) on reward processing.
Detailed description
A cardinal feature of Major Depressive Disorder is anhedonia, which is a lack of pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. In order to understand reward processing in depressed individuals it is also necessary to study reward processing in people who are not depressed. Bupropion, the active drug in the anti-depressant Wellbutrin XL, has been shown to increase brain reward functioning in animals. The goal of the present study is to investigate the effects of Wellbutrin XL administered to psychiatrically healthy individuals as they perform a computer task known to assess reward processing.
Interventions
DRUGBupropion
150 mg of bupropion administered 5 hours before fMRI scanning
DRUGPlacebo
Administered 5 hours prior to fMRI scanning (randomly assigned, double blind)
Sponsors
Massachusetts General Hospital
Affective Neuroscience Laboratory
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 64 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Absence of medical, neurological, and psychiatric illness (including alcohol and substance abuse) * Non-Smoker * Right-handed (Chapman and Chapman 1987) * Ability to provide informed consent
Exclusion criteria
* Predisposition to seizure (e.g. family history of a seizure disorder, history of head trauma) or current use of medications that lower the seizure threshold * History or current diagnosis of anorexia or bulimia * Alcohol or substance abuse within the past year * Current usage of Wellbutrin or Zyban or other drugs that contain bupropion * Recent discontinuation of alcohol or sedatives (including benzodiazepines) * Use of (in the last 2 weeks) medications that may have antidepressant properties (ex. some herbal supplements) * Known allergies to bupropion * Currently lactating, pregnant or believe you are likely to be pregnant (enrolled subjects who are not using reliable contraception and have engaged in sexual intercourse since their last menstrual period will be given a self-administered pregnancy test.) * Left-handed/ambidextrous * Evidence of neurological illness * Serious suicide or homicide risk Concomitant medications other than those listed in the
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Whether an acute dose of bupropion vs. placebo differentially affects the neurobiology and behavior of reward processing in depressed participants. | 1 day |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed