The syndrome of seasonal affective disorder is a condition where depressions in fall and winter alternate with nondepressed periods in the spring and summer
Hansen V, Skre I, Lund E.Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø, Norway.Epidemiol Psichiatr Soc. 2008 Apr-Jun;17(2):120-7. BACKGROUND: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is supposed to be caused by lack of daylight in winter. Yet the population of Northern Norway, living without sun for two winter months, does not spontaneously complain about depression during the dark […]
Terman M, Terman JS.Department of Biopsychology, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.Am J Psychiatry. 2006 Dec;163(12):2126-33. OBJECTIVE: This trial assessed two novel nonpharmaceutical treatments for winter depression-naturalistic dawn simulation and high-density negative air ionization-delivered during the final hours of sleep. METHOD: The patients were 99 adults (77 women and 22 men) with […]
Sher L, Goldman D, Ozaki N, Rosenthal NE.Clinical Psychobiology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.J Affect Disord. 1999 Jun;53(3):203-10. The study of the genetic basis of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a condition where depressions in fall and winter alternate with nondepressed periods in the spring and summer, has recently received attention. The […]
Wehr TA, Duncan WC Jr, Sher L, Aeschbach D, Schwartz PJ, Turner EH, Postolache TT, Rosenthal NE. Section on Biological Rhythms, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1390, USA. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2001 Dec;58(12):1108-14. BACKGROUND: In animals, the circadian pacemaker regulates seasonal […]
Enoch MA, Goldman D, Barnett R, Sher L, Mazzanti CM, Rosenthal NE. Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. Mol Psychiatry. 1999 Jan;4(1):89-92. Genes involved in serotonin metabolism are good candidates for the pathogenesis of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). A functional variant in the […]
Lam RW, Levitt AJ, Levitan RD, Enns MW, Morehouse R, Michalak EE, Tam EM. Mood Disorders Centre, UBC Hospital, 2255 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2A1. Am J Psychiatry. 2006 May;163(5):805-12. OBJECTIVE: Light therapy and antidepressants have shown comparable efficacy in separate studies of seasonal affective disorder treatment, but few studies have directly compared the […]
Levitan RD, Masellis M, Lam RW, Kaplan AS, Davis C, Tharmalingam S, Mackenzie B, Basile VS, Kennedy JL. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2006 Nov;31(11):2498-503. We have recently described an association between the hypofunctional 7-repeat allele (7R) of the dopamine-4 receptor gene (DRD4), weight […]
Levitan RD. Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Canada. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2007;9(3):315-24. This review summarizes research on the chronobiology and neurobiology of winter seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a recurrent subtype of depression characterized by a predictable onset in the fall/winter months and spontaneous remission in the spring/summer period. Chronobiological mechanisms related to circadian rhythms, […]
Sher L, Greenberg BD, Murphy DL, Rosenthal NE, Sirota LA, Hamer DH. Section on Biological Rhythms, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Psychiatr Genet. 2000 Sep;10(3):125-30. Pleiotropy refers to the ability of a single gene to influence multiple traits. A polymorphism in the regulatory region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) has previously […]
Sher L, Rosenthal NE, Wehr TA. Section on Biological Rhythms, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1390, USA. J Affect Disord. 1999 Dec;56(2-3):195-9. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is characterized by recurrent episodes of depression in the fall and winter that alternate with nondepressed periods in the spring and summer. Because some symptoms of SAD, […]
