Neuro-computational Study of Thymic Fluctuations in Mood Disorders

Launched by CENTRE HOSPITALIER ST ANNE · Jun 13, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical study is exploring how mood changes in people with depression and bipolar disorder compared to those without these conditions. Researchers want to better understand the biological and brain-based reasons behind mood swings by combining brain scans with daily mood tracking using a smartphone app. The goal is to see if a short brain scan can help predict how someone’s mood and condition might change over time. The study also offers optional activities where participants can use apps to track emotions passively and record their voice, which may help identify unique mood or speech patterns related to these disorders.

People who may join include adults aged 18 to 74 who have been diagnosed with depression or bipolar disorder in the past year, as well as healthy volunteers without psychiatric conditions. Participants will first take part in a brain imaging session, then use a smartphone app daily for up to a year to report on their mood and make simple choices. This helps researchers understand mood changes in real life. The study is currently recruiting, and participants should be able to use a smartphone daily and not have any medical reasons that would prevent them from having an MRI scan.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• Common between groups (DD, BD, control and GP):
• • Having given informed and written consent
• • Being covered by social security
• For patients with depressive disorder (DD):
• • Having been diagnosed with characterized depressive episode (F32, F33, F34) according to the ICD-10, by a psychiatrist, or having presented this diagnosis during the past 12 months
• For patients with bipolar disorder (BD):
• • Presenting a diagnosis of bipolar mood disorder (F31) according to ICD-10, by a psychiatrist
• • Having presented a mood episode (F31.0 - F31.6) diagnosed during the past 12 months by a psychiatrist
• Exclusion Criteria:
• Common between groups (DD, BD, control and GP):
• • Inability to carry out daily monitoring on mobile application for 12 months
• • legal protection measure (guardianship or curatorship)
• For control group:
• • Current diagnosis of psychiatric disorder in ICD-10 (F20-F98) or prescription of psychotropic treatment
• • History of depression (F32)
• • Syndrome of dependence on a psychoactive substance other than tobacco
• • Neurological history (in particular history of stroke, coma, epilepsy, neuro- inflammatory, or neuro-degenerative disease)
• • Inability to carry out daily monitoring on mobile application for 12 months
• • For patients and healthy volunteers for whom an MRI (without injection of contrast agent) is proposed
• • Contraindication to MRI: cardiac pacemaker not compatible with MRI, heart valve implant, implant or metallic foreign body
• • Pregnant woman (at the time of MRI)