Seventeen patients with major affective disorder completed a lO-week, placebo-controlled,
randomized trial of the serotonin reuptake inhibitor sertraline. Patients underwent positron
emission tomography with 18F-deoxyglucose and were assessed with the Hamilton
Depression Rating Scale at baseline and 10 weeks after treatment with sertraline or
placebo. The middle frontal gyrus, an area previously characterized by decreased metabolic
activity in depressive patients, showed relatively increased activity on both sides after …