Vocabulary terms fundamental to understanding concepts included in Trial 2: Teens and Depression are listed
below. Some of the words will be encountered while playing the games.
Vocabulary Terms [ 70 KB pdf ]
Axon —a fiber-like extension of a neuron that carries electrical messages away from the cell body and toward other neurons and cells.
Bias —inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair.
Blinding —a process where clinical trial researchers and/or participants are not told which treatment groups patients are assigned to.
Cell Body —contains the neuron's nucleus where many chemical reactions take place that keep the neuron alive.
Central Nervous System (CNS) —the part of the nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord.
Children's Depression Rating Scale (CDRS-R) —a scale, consisting of 17 symptom areas, that a psychiatrist uses to determine the severity of a person's depression based on an interview with the patient.
Clinical Trial —a research study using human volunteers that is designed to assess the safety and efficacy of medical advances.
Clinical Trial Phase —clinical trials consist of four phases that each have a different purpose and ask a different research question.
Cognitive Based Therapy (CBT) —a type of therapy that helps people recognize things that may be contributing to their depression and helps change behaviors making the depression worse.
Coordinator —medical professional who manages the day-to-day operations of a clinical trial including recruiting patients, conducting the informed consent process, determining the cost of the study, ensuring safety of participants, and scheduling patient visits.
Dendrite —an extension of the neuronal cell that receives chemical messages from other neurons.
Double Blinding —a type of blinding in clinical trials where neither the researcher nor the participants know which participants are in the experimental group receiving the drug to be tested and which are in the control group(s) receiving placebo or standard treatment.
Exclusion Criteria —factors that do not allow someone to participate in a clinical trial.
Fluoxetine —a type of antidepressant called a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, which specifically affects the neurotransmitter serotonin to help regulate mood.
Inclusion Criteria —factors that allow someone to participate in a clinical trial.
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) —a serious form of depression interfering with day-to-day life. A person can be diagnosed with MDD if they have five or more of the nine symptoms of depression outlined in the
Diagnostics Manual of Mental Health Disorders for over two weeks, with one of the five symptoms being depressed mood or loss of interest/pleasure.
Mild, Continuous Depression —a person can be diagnosed with mild, continuous depression if they have two or more of the nine symptoms of depression outlined in the
Diagnostics Manual of Mental Health Disorders for over one year.
Myelin Sheath —a fatty material that insulates the axon and allows the messages to travel faster.
Neuron —a type of cell that processes and transmits information through electrical and chemical signals; also called nerve cell.
Neurotransmitter —a chemical messenger that allows neurons to communicate with other neurons and muscle.
Nucleus —structure that contains the cell's DNA.
Observer Bias —occurs when an observer knows the goals of an experiment and looks for effects that they expect while missing effects that aren't expected.
Placebo —an inactive substance that has no treatment value. Placebos are designed to look exactly like the experimental treatment and sometimes given to the control group in a clinical trial in order to assess the true effect of the experimental treatment.
Placebo Effect —an effect that happens when patients are given a treatment, especially by a person they trust, and the patients' belief in the treatment causes them to experience a response, even if the treatment is inactive. The placebo effect can interfere with determining the real effects of a treatment.
Principal Investigator (PI) —the lead scientists or medical doctor that is responsible for the clinical trial. The PI may be the person who conceived the research question being tested or may be a person selected by a pharmaceutical company to lead the project.
Protocol —the study plan for the clinical trial that serves as a common reference document to which people running the clinical trial can refer to.
Psychiatrist —medical doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating mental disorders. Psychiatrists oftentimes specialize in treating specific psychiatric problems and helping certain age groups.
Randomization —a method based on chance by which a clinical trial participant is randomly selected to get the experimental treatment or a control treatment. The process reduces any bias that could result from assigning patients to treatment groups.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) —a type of antidepressant that works by blocking the reuptake of serotonin by sending neurons, which leads to more serotonin in the synaptic space that can then bind to serotonin receptors on the receiving neuron.
Serotonin —a neurotransmitter that is responsible for feelings of well being and happiness. Serotonin specifically helps regulate mood, appetite, and sleep.
Serotonin Neurotransmission —the process of transmitting serotonin from one neuron to another. The process takes place in four steps: release, receive, transmit, and reuptake.
Serotonin Receptor —a surface protein on receiving neurons that binds serotonin, which leads to the generation of an electrical signal in the receiving neuron.
Serotonin Transporter —a surface protein on the sending neuron that takes up serotonin from the synaptic space after the serotonin has been used for neurotransmission.
Side Effects —any undesired effect of a treatment.
Standard Treatment —the current effective treatment normally provided to patients with a given disease or condition.
Study Arm —a group of participants in a clinical trial who receives a specific treatment.
Synapse —a structure where chemical and electrical signals flow from one neuron to another.
Synaptic Space —the space between the sending and receiving neuron.
Tryptophan —an amino acid used to make serotonin.
