H Lavretsky

Summary

Affiliation: University of California
Country: USA

Publications

  1. ncbi A pilot study of yogic meditation for family dementia caregivers with depressive symptoms: effects on mental health, cognition, and telomerase activity
    H Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
    Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 28:57-65. 2013
  2. ncbi Symptoms of depression and anxiety predict mortality in elderly veterans enrolled in the UPBEAT program
    H Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA-Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, 760 Westwood Plaza, Room 37-425, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 18:183-4. 2003
  3. ncbi Apolipoprotein epsilon4 allele status, depressive symptoms, and cognitive decline in middle-aged and elderly persons without dementia
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, the Alzheimer s Disease Center, The Center on Aging, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 11:667-73. 2003
  4. ncbi Sex differences in brain structure in geriatric depression
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 12:653-7. 2004
  5. ncbi Antidepressant exposure may protect against decrement in frontal gray matter volumes in geriatric depression
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles 90095, USA
    J Clin Psychiatry 66:964-7. 2005
  6. ncbi Innovations: geriatric psychiatry: diagnosis and treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease
    Helen Lavretsky
    University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Psychiatr Serv 57:617-9. 2006
  7. ncbi Neuroanatomical characteristics of geriatric apathy and depression: a magnetic resonance imaging study
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 15:386-94. 2007
  8. ncbi The effects of the dopamine and serotonin transporter polymorphisms on clinical features and treatment response in geriatric depression: a pilot study
    Helen Lavretsky
    UCLA School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 23:55-9. 2008
  9. ncbi Improving depression and enhancing resilience in family dementia caregivers: a pilot randomized placebo-controlled trial of escitalopram
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, Semel Institute for Neuroscience, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 18:154-62. 2010
  10. ncbi The MRI brain correlates of depressed mood, anhedonia, apathy, and anergia in older adults with and without cognitive impairment or dementia
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 23:1040-50. 2008

Research Grants

  1. INTERVENTION CLINICAL TRIAL FOR GERIATRIC DEPRESSION
    Helen Lavretsky; Fiscal Year: 2005
  2. Tai Chi Chih: Complementary Use to Achieve Remission in Geriatric Depression
    Helen Lavretsky; Fiscal Year: 2007
  3. Methylphenidate Use to Improve Outcomes in Geriatric Depression
    Helen Lavretsky; Fiscal Year: 2010

Detail Information

Publications46

  1. ncbi A pilot study of yogic meditation for family dementia caregivers with depressive symptoms: effects on mental health, cognition, and telomerase activity
    H Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
    Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 28:57-65. 2013
    ..This study examined the effects of brief daily yogic meditation on mental health, cognitive functioning, and immune cell telomerase activity in family dementia caregivers with mild depressive symptoms...
  2. ncbi Symptoms of depression and anxiety predict mortality in elderly veterans enrolled in the UPBEAT program
    H Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA-Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, 760 Westwood Plaza, Room 37-425, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 18:183-4. 2003
  3. ncbi Apolipoprotein epsilon4 allele status, depressive symptoms, and cognitive decline in middle-aged and elderly persons without dementia
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, the Alzheimer s Disease Center, The Center on Aging, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 11:667-73. 2003
    ....
  4. ncbi Sex differences in brain structure in geriatric depression
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 12:653-7. 2004
    ..In an exploratory study, authors compared patients with late-life major depression (MDD) and age-matched control subjects to examine sex differences in frontal and orbito-frontal (OFC) regional brain volumes...
  5. ncbi Antidepressant exposure may protect against decrement in frontal gray matter volumes in geriatric depression
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles 90095, USA
    J Clin Psychiatry 66:964-7. 2005
    ..Depressed elderly patients with and without antidepressant exposure were compared to normal controls to examine the effects of prior antidepressant exposure on regional brain gray matter volumes using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)...
  6. ncbi Innovations: geriatric psychiatry: diagnosis and treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease
    Helen Lavretsky
    University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Psychiatr Serv 57:617-9. 2006
    ..Such interventions include caregiver training and support, antipsychotics, antidepressants, and cholinesterase inhibitors, along with other drugs developed for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease...
  7. ncbi Neuroanatomical characteristics of geriatric apathy and depression: a magnetic resonance imaging study
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 15:386-94. 2007
    ..Apathy is one of the most common late-life neuropsychiatric syndromes. The objective of our study was to examine the neuroanatomical correlates of apathy in older subjects with and without geriatric major depression (MDD)...
  8. ncbi The effects of the dopamine and serotonin transporter polymorphisms on clinical features and treatment response in geriatric depression: a pilot study
    Helen Lavretsky
    UCLA School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 23:55-9. 2008
    ....
  9. ncbi Improving depression and enhancing resilience in family dementia caregivers: a pilot randomized placebo-controlled trial of escitalopram
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, Semel Institute for Neuroscience, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 18:154-62. 2010
    ..This study examined the potential of an antidepressant drug, escitalopram, to improve depression, resilience to stress, and quality of life in family dementia caregivers in a randomized placebo-controlled double-blinded trial...
  10. ncbi The MRI brain correlates of depressed mood, anhedonia, apathy, and anergia in older adults with and without cognitive impairment or dementia
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 23:1040-50. 2008
    ..We examined the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) correlates of depressed mood, apathy, anhedonia, and anergia in older adults with and without cognitive impairment or dementia...
  11. ncbi Association of depressed mood and mortality in older adults with and without cognitive impairment in a prospective naturalistic study
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
    Am J Psychiatry 167:589-97. 2010
    ....
  12. ncbi Complementary use of tai chi chih augments escitalopram treatment of geriatric depression: a randomized controlled trial
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 19:839-50. 2011
    ....
  13. ncbi Combined treatment with methylphenidate and citalopram for accelerated response in the elderly: an open trial
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California School of Medicine, Los Angeles 90095, USA
    J Clin Psychiatry 64:1410-4. 2003
    ..We evaluated the potential of methylphenidate to accelerate antidepressant response to citalopram and the safety and tolerability of the combined treatment in patients with geriatric major depressive disorder...
  14. ncbi Memory self-appraisal in middle-aged and older adults with the apolipoprotein E-4 allele
    G W Small
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles 90024 1759, USA
    Am J Psychiatry 156:1035-8. 1999
    ....
  15. ncbi Cerebral metabolic and cognitive decline in persons at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease
    G W Small
    Center on Aging and Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Neuropsychiatric Institute, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 97:6037-42. 2000
    ..These results indicate that the combination of cerebral metabolic rates and genetic risk factors provides a means for preclinical AD detection that will assist in response monitoring during experimental treatments...
  16. ncbi Influences of lobar gray matter and white matter lesion load on cognition and mood
    Susanne G Mueller
    Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases, VAMC University of California San Francisco, 4150 Clement Street, San Francisco, CA, 94121, USA
    Psychiatry Res 181:90-6. 2010
    ..Cognitive function is associated with GM atrophy and depressed mood is associated with frontal WML. This indicates that although both often occur together, depressed mood and cognitive impairment have different pathological correlates...
  17. ncbi Assessment of dementia risk in aging adults using both FDG-PET and FDDNP-PET imaging
    L M Ercoli
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
    Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 27:1017-27. 2012
    ..In this follow-up investigation, we compared 2-deoxy-2-[F-18]fluoro- d-glucose (FDG)-PET cerebral metabolic patterns in the three FDDNP-PET binding subgroups...
  18. ncbi Memory self-appraisal and depressive symptoms in people at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease
    G W Small
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, The Neuropsychiatric Institute, University of California at Los Angeles, 90024, USA
    Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 16:1071-7. 2001
    ..No previous study has focused on subjective memory complaints and depressive symptoms in the same subject population at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease...
  19. ncbi Volumetric asymmetries in late-onset mood disorders: an attenuation of frontal asymmetry with depression severity
    A Kumar
    Neuropsychiatric Institute, UCLA School of Medicine, 760 Westwood Plaza, Rm 37 384, Los Angeles, CA 90024 1759, USA
    Psychiatry Res 100:41-7. 2000
    ..Hemispheric and temporal asymmetries were comparable in all three groups. These data suggest that an attenuation of the 'normal' volumetric asymmetry in the frontal regions may provide a structural basis to late-onset mood disorders..
  20. ncbi Methylphenidate augmentation of citalopram in elderly depressed patients
    H Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 9:298-303. 2001
    ..However, patients may require dosage adjustment for tolerability of this combination...
  21. ncbi Localizing gray matter deficits in late-onset depression using computational cortical pattern matching methods
    Martina Ballmaier
    Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Department of Neurology, Rm. 4238, Reed Neurological Research Center, David Geffen UCLA School of Medicine, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1769, USA
    Am J Psychiatry 161:2091-9. 2004
    ....
  22. ncbi Daily functioning and prefrontal brain morphology in healthy and depressed community-dwelling elderly
    Virginia Elderkin-Thompson
    Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Geriatric Division, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 16:633-42. 2008
    ..This study examined relationships between self-reported levels of general functioning and the combined volume of three integrated prefrontal structures associated with self-perception and emotion...
  23. ncbi Cognitive and cerebral metabolic effects of celecoxib versus placebo in people with age-related memory loss: randomized controlled study
    Gary W Small
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 16:999-1009. 2008
    ....
  24. ncbi Sleep disturbance and depression recurrence in community-dwelling older adults: a prospective study
    Hyong Jin Cho
    Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, UCLA Semel Institute of Neuroscience, 300 Medical Plaza, Suite 3 109, Los Angeles, CA 90095 7057, USA
    Am J Psychiatry 165:1543-50. 2008
    ..A prior depressive episode is thought to increase the risk of depression. However, among older adults with prior depression, it is unclear whether sleep disturbance predicts depression recurrence independent of other depressive symptoms...
  25. ncbi Influence of cognitive status, age, and APOE-4 genetic risk on brain FDDNP positron-emission tomography imaging in persons without dementia
    Gary W Small
    Semel Institute, 760 Westwood Plaza, Ste 88 201, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
    Arch Gen Psychiatry 66:81-7. 2009
    ..Here we investigated whether known risk factors for Alzheimer disease and dementia are associated with FDDNP-PET binding...
  26. ncbi Differential FDDNP PET patterns in nondemented middle-aged and older adults
    Linda M Ercoli
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 9668, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 17:397-406. 2009
    ....
  27. ncbi Depression and anxiety symptoms are associated with cerebral FDDNP-PET binding in middle-aged and older nondemented adults
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 9668, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 17:493-502. 2009
    ....
  28. ncbi Methylphenidate-enhanced antidepressant response to citalopram in the elderly: a double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 14:181-5. 2006
    ..The authors evaluated the potential of methylphenidate to accelerate and enhance antidepressant response to citalopram in elderly depressed patients...
  29. ncbi Frontal white matter biochemical abnormalities in late-life major depression detected with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy
    Anand Kumar
    Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine, USA
    Am J Psychiatry 159:630-6. 2002
    ..This study examined the biochemical correlates of late-life major depression in the frontal gray and white matter by using single-voxel proton spectroscopy...
  30. ncbi Practical geriatrics: clinically significant nonmajor geriatric depression
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine, 90095, USA
    Psychiatr Serv 54:297-9. 2003
  31. ncbi Executive dysfunction and memory in older patients with major and minor depression
    Virginia Elderkin-Thompson
    UCLA Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Geriatric Division, Los Angeles, CA, USA
    Arch Clin Neuropsychol 22:261-70. 2007
    ..In conclusion, the verbal memory deficits typically attributed to late-life depression may result from impaired executive functioning during the learning phase of the recall task...
  32. ncbi Executive dysfunction and visuospatial ability among depressed elders in a community setting
    Virginia Elderkin-Thompson
    Neuropsychiatric Research Institute and Hospital, University of California, 760 Westwood Plaza, C8 688, Los Angeles, CA 90024 1759, USA
    Arch Clin Neuropsychol 19:597-611. 2004
    ..This result is consistent with the theory that dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex is a critical feature of late-life depression...
  33. ncbi Effects of a 14-day healthy longevity lifestyle program on cognition and brain function
    Gary W Small
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 14:538-45. 2006
    ..The objective of this study was to determine the effects of a 14-day healthy longevity lifestyle program on cognition and cerebral metabolism in people with mild age-related memory complaints...
  34. ncbi Executive dysfunction and memory in older patients with major and minor depression
    Virginia Elderkin-Thompson
    UCLA Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Geriatric Division, CA 90024 1759, USA
    Arch Clin Neuropsychol 21:669-76. 2006
    ..In conclusion, the verbal memory deficits typically attributed to late-life depression may result from impaired executive functioning during the learning phase of the recall task...
  35. ncbi Mapping brain size and cortical gray matter changes in elderly depression
    Martina Ballmaier
    Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Department of Neurology, David Geffen UCLA School of Medicine, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1769, USA
    Biol Psychiatry 55:382-9. 2004
    ....
  36. ncbi PET of brain amyloid and tau in mild cognitive impairment
    Gary W Small
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA
    N Engl J Med 355:2652-63. 2006
    ..Noninvasive methods to detect these abnormal proteins are potentially useful in developing surrogate markers for drug discovery and diagnostics...
  37. ncbi The significance of subsyndromal depression in geriatrics
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine, Room 37 425, 760 Westwood Place, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Curr Psychiatry Rep 6:25-31. 2004
    ..The authors draw conclusions from the published literature and present clinical criteria for the diagnosis of clinically significant non-major depression in the elderly...
  38. ncbi Estrogen use and brain metabolic change in older adults. A preliminary report
    N L Rasgon
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, The Neuropsychiatric Institute, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Psychiatry Res 107:11-8. 2001
    ..These findings suggest that estrogen use may protect against regional cerebral metabolic decline in postmenopausal women...
  39. ncbi Prior depression history and deterioration of physical health in community-dwelling older adults--a prospective cohort study
    Hyong Jin Cho
    Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, Semel Institute for Neuroscience, Los Angeles, CA, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 18:442-51. 2010
    ..This study examined whether prior depression history predicts deterioration of physical health in community-dwelling older adults...
  40. ncbi Anterior cingulate, gyrus rectus, and orbitofrontal abnormalities in elderly depressed patients: an MRI-based parcellation of the prefrontal cortex
    Martina Ballmaier
    Department of Neurology, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
    Am J Psychiatry 161:99-108. 2004
    ..The differential pattern of abnormalities detected in the white matter and CSF compartments imply that distinct etiopathological mechanisms might underlie the structural cortical changes in these regions...
  41. ncbi Clinically significant non-major depression: old concepts, new insights
    Helen Lavretsky
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 10:239-55. 2002
    ..They draw conclusions from the published literature and propose clinical criteria for the diagnosis of clinically significant non-major depression in elderly persons...
  42. ncbi Estrogen use and brain metabolic change in postmenopausal women
    Natalie L Rasgon
    Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
    Neurobiol Aging 26:229-35. 2005
    ..We used positron emission tomography to evaluate cerebral glucose metabolic change in postmenopausal women in a naturalistic observational study...
  43. ncbi Predictors of two-year mortality in a prospective "UPBEAT" study of elderly veterans with comorbid medical and psychiatric symptoms
    Helen Lavretsky
    Received August 9, 2000
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 10:458-68. 2002
    ..Lack of improvement in symptoms of depression and anxiety at 6 months was associated with higher rates of mortality...
  44. ncbi Neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer disease and related disorders: why do treatments work in clinical practice but not in the randomized trials?
    Helen Lavretsky
    Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 16:523-7. 2008
  45. ncbi Antidepressant pharmacotherapy in the treatment of depression in the very old: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial
    Steven P Roose
    New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, USA
    Am J Psychiatry 161:2050-9. 2004
    ..This study determined the efficacy of antidepressant medication for the treatment of depression in the "old-old."..
  46. ncbi MRI subcortical hyperintensities in old and very old depressed outpatients: the important role of age in late-life depression
    Stephen Salloway
    Brown Medical School, Providence, RI, USA
    J Neurol Sci 203:227-33. 2002
    ..This study examined the severity of subcortical hyperintensities (SH) and the relationship between SH and depression characteristics in two samples of elderly depressed outpatients differing in age...

Research Grants5

  1. INTERVENTION CLINICAL TRIAL FOR GERIATRIC DEPRESSION
    Helen Lavretsky; Fiscal Year: 2005
    ..With the additional skills and experience acquired during the Award period, Dr. Lavretsky will be well prepared to undertake independent investigations. ..
  2. Tai Chi Chih: Complementary Use to Achieve Remission in Geriatric Depression
    Helen Lavretsky; Fiscal Year: 2007
    ....
  3. Methylphenidate Use to Improve Outcomes in Geriatric Depression
    Helen Lavretsky; Fiscal Year: 2010
    ..Evaluating selected dopamine-related genes in late-life depression with respect to mood and cognitive symptoms, and treatment response may lead to the development of the targeted individualized treatments in geriatric depression. ..