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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, […]

Rosenthal NE, Sack DA, Gillin JC, Lewy AJ, Goodwin FK, Davenport Y, Mueller PS, Newsome DA, Wehr TA.Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1984 Jan;41(1):72-80. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a syndrome characterized by recurrent depressions that occur annually at the same time each year. We describe 29 patients with SAD; most of them had a bipolar affective […]

Kegel M, Dam H, Ali F, Bjerregaard P.Department of Psychiatry, Ballerup, Ballerup Boulevard 2, Ballerup 2750, Denmark. Nord J Psychiatry. 2009;63(4):331-5. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in Greenlanders and Danes living at four different latitudes in Greenland. A Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) was mailed […]

Howland RH.University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. J Psychosoc Nurs Ment Health Serv. 2009 Jan;47(1):17-20. The syndrome of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is defined as a history of major depressive episodes that recur regularly at a particular time of year, typically fall or winter, and completely […]

Sher L, Matthews JR, Turner EH, Postolache TT, Katz KS, Rosenthal NE.Section on Biological Rhythms, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Md., USA.J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2001 Sep;26(4):336-8. OBJECTIVE: To determine if the antidepressant effect of 1 hour of light therapy is predictive of the response after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment in patients with […]

Charlton BG. Med Hypotheses. 2009 Jan;72(1):1-7. This article will present a model for how ‘depression’ (i.e. depressive symptoms) can be divided into four self-diagnosed sub-types or causes which might then be self-treated using agents available without prescription. (Another, much rarer, cause of depressed symptoms is the classical illness of ‘melancholia’, which when severe cannot be […]