Dopaminergic Dysfunction in Late-Life Depression

Plain-language summary

Late-Life Depression (LLD), or depression in older adults, often presents with motivational deficits, deficits in performance in cognitive domains including processing speed and executive dysfunction, and mobility impairments. This triad of findings implicate dopaminergic dysfunction as a core pathophysiologic feature in depression, and may contribute to cognitive decline and motor disability. Normal aging results in brain-wide dopamine declines, decreased D1/D2 receptor density, and loss of dopamine transporters. Although brain changes associated with depression and aging converge on dopamine circuits, the specific disturbances in LLD and how responsive the system is to modulation remain unclear. In this study, investigators are testing integrative model that aging, in concert with pro-inflammatory shifts, decreases dopamine signaling. These signally changes affects behaviors supported by these circuits, in the context of age-associated cortical atrophy and ischemic microvascular changes, resulting in variable LLD phenotypes. Investigators propose a primary pathway where dopaminergic dysfunction in depressed elders contributes to slowed processing speed and mobility impairments that increase the effort cost associated with voluntary behavior. The central hypothesis of this study is that late-life depression is characterized by dysfunction in the dopamine system and, by enhancing dopamine functioning in the brain. By improving cognitive and motor slowing, administration of carbidopa/levodopa (L-DOPA) will improve depressive symptoms.

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