Electrophysiological Biomarkers for Mood Disorders

To more effectively investigate, diagnose, and treat mood disorders, there is a need to move beyond standard clinical characterizations. While symptom-based nosology has provided a reliable and pragmatic framework for clinical practice, advances in neuroimaging research have permitted the possibility of identifying neurophysiologic biomarkers that index underlying pathophysiologic processes and provide an effective complement to clinical symptoms. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the common state-of-the-art neuroimaging approaches for investigating brain disorders and has been very useful in providing a functional neuroanatomic account of neural disturbances in mood disorders.