Biological component of the NIMH Clinical Research Branch Collaborative Program on the psychobiology of depression: II. Methodology and data analysis

Abstract

SYNOPSIS: A preceding paper has reviewed the history, background, and rationale for this collaborative effort exploring the biologic basis of the affective disorders. This paper details the ‘flow’ of a subject through the experimental protocol, the instrumentation used to obtain the clinical and behavioural data, and the biologic methodologies employed in the analysis of the body fluids. Data management and analysis techniques developed for this study are also examined.