Carmen Andreescu, MD

  • Professor, Psychiatry

Phone

412 246 5698

E-mail

andrcx@UPMC.EDU

Personal Website

https://argo.pitt.edu

Campus Address

3501 FORBES AVENUE, R 530.5

One-Line Research Description

Neural basis and treatment biomarkers of mood and anxiety in late-life. Accelerated aging in late-life mood and anxiety disorders.

Dr. Andreescu is a Professor of Psychiatry and a licensed psychiatrist, with additional expertise in Geriatric and Interventional Psychiatry. Her research uses multimodal imaging methods, behavioral measures and ecological momentary assessments to interrogate the neural basis of late-life mood and anxiety disorders, to identify biomarkers of treatment response and to explore the pathways linking mood/anxiety with cognitive aging. She is also interested in applying targeted interventional methods such as TMS for mood/anxiety disorders.

Representative Publications

Mulsant BH, Houck PR, Gildengers AG, Andreescu C, Dew MA, Pollock BG, Miller MD, Stack JA, Mazumdar S, Reynolds CF 3rd. What is the optimal duration of a short-term antidepressant trial when treating geriatric depression? J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2006 Apr;26(2):113-20. PubMed PMID: 16633138

Andreescu C, Mulsant BH, Peasley-Miklus C, Rothschild AJ, Flint AJ, Heo M, Caswell M, Whyte EM, Meyers BS, STOP-PD Study Group. Persisting low use of antipsychotics in the treatment of major depressive disorder with psychotic features. J Clin Psychiatry. 2007 Feb;68(2):194-200. PubMed PMID: 17335316

Dombrovski AY, Mulsant BH, Houck PR, Mazumdar S, Lenze EJ, Andreescu C, Cyranowski JM, Reynolds CF 3rd. Residual symptoms and recurrence during maintenance treatment of late-life depression. J Affect Disord. 2007 Nov;103(1-3):77-82. PubMed PMID: 17321595 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2680091

Andreescu C, Lenze EJ, Dew MA, Begley AE, Mulsant BH, Dombrovski AY, Pollock BG, Stack J, Miller MD, Reynolds CF. Effect of comorbid anxiety on treatment response and relapse risk in late-life depression: A controlled study. Br J Psychiatry. 2007 Apr;190:344-9. PubMed PMID: 17401042

Andreescu C, Chang CC, Mulsant BH, Ganguli M. Twelve-year depressive symptom trajectories and their predictors in a community sample of older adults. Int Psychogeriatr. 2008 Apr;20(2):221-36. PubMed PMID: 18234145 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2743537

Andreescu C, Butters MA, Begley A, Rajji T, Wu M, Meltzer CC, Reynolds CF 3rd, Aizenstein H. Gray matter changes in late-life depression – A structural MRI analysis. Neuropsychopharmacol. 2008 Oct;33(11):2566-72. PubMed PMID: 18075490 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2872084

Andreescu C, Mulsant BH, Houck PR, Whyte EM, Mazumdar S, Dombrovski AY, Pollock BG, Reynolds CF 3rd. Empirically derived decision trees for the treatment of late-life depression. Am J Psychiatry. 2008 Jul;165(7):855-62. PubMed PMID: 18450930 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2840395

Dombrovski AY, Cyranowski JM, Mulsant BH, Houck PR, Buysse DJ, Andreescu C, Thase ME, Mallinger AG, Frank E. Which symptoms predict recurrence of depression in women treated with maintenance interpersonal psychotherapy? Depress Anxiety. 2008;25(12):1060-6. PubMed PMID: 18781665 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2705944

Andreescu C, Belnap BH, Rollman BL, Houck P, Ciliberti C, Mazumdar S, Shear MK, Lenze EJ. Generalized Anxiety Disorder Severity Scale validation in older adults. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2008 Oct;16(10):813-8. PubMed PMID: 18827227 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2803316

Lenze EJ, Rollman BL, Shear MK, Dew MA., Pollock BG., Ciliberti C, Costantino M, Snyder S, Shi P, Spitznagel E, Andreescu C, Butters MA, Reynolds CF 3rd. Escitalopram for older adults with generalized anxiety disorder: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2009 Jan 21;301(3):295-303. PubMed PMID: 19155456 PubMed PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2840403

Andreescu C, Lenze EJ, Mulsant BH, Wetherell JL, Begley AE, Mazumdar S, Reynolds CF 3rd. High worry severity is associated with poorer acute and maintenance efficacy of antidepressants in late-life depression. Depress Anxiety. 2009;26(3):266-72; PubMed PMID: 19212971 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2680149

Andreescu C, Butters M, Lenze EJ, Venkatraman VK, Nable M. Reynolds CF 3rd, Aizenstein HJ. fMRI activation in late-life anxious depression: A potential biomarker. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2009 Aug;24(8):820-8. PubMed PMID: 19575412 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2722439

Reynolds CF 3rd, Dew MA, Martire LM, Miller MD, Cyranowski JM, Lenze E, Whyte EM, Mulsant BH, Pollock BG, Karp JF, Gildengers A, Szanto K, Dombrovski AY, Andreescu C, Butters MA, Morse JQ, Houck PR, Bensasi S, Mazumdar S, Stack JA, Frank E. Treating depression to remission in older adults: A controlled evaluation of combined escitalopram with interpersonal psychotherapy versus escitalopram with depression care management. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2010 Nov;25(11):1134-41. PubMed PMID: 20957693 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3004217

Greenlee A, Karp JF, Dew MA, Houck P, Andreescu C, Reynolds CF 3rd. Anxiety impairs depression remission in partial responders during extended treatment in late-life. Depress Anxiety. 2010 May;27(5):451-6. PubMed PMID: 20186975 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2913126

Lenze EJ, Goate AM, Nowotny P, Dixon D, Shi P, Bies RR, Lotrich FK, Rollman BL, Shear MK, Thompson PA, Andreescu C, Pollock BG.  Relation of serotonin transporter genetic variation to efficacy of escitalopram for generalized anxiety disorder in older adults.  J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2010; Dec;30(6): 672-7. PubMed PMID: 21105279 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3059101

Andreescu C, Glick RM, Emeremni CA, Houck PR, Mulsant BH. Acupuncture for the treatment of major depressive disorder: A randomized, controlled trial. J Clin Psychiatry. 2011 Aug;72(8):1129-35. PubMed PMID: 21672495 NIHMSID: 1782019

Blumberger DM, Mulsant BH, Emeremni C, Houck P, Andreescu C, Mazumdar S, Whyte E, Rothschild AJ, Flint AJ, Meyers BS. Impact of prior pharmacotherapy on remission of psychotic depression in a randomized controlled trial. J Psychiatr Res. 2011 Jul;45(7):896-901. PubMed PMID: 21300377 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3419434

Lenze EJ, Mantella RC, Shi P, Goate AM, Nowotny P, Butters MA, Andreescu C, Thompson PA, Rollman BL. Elevated cortisol in older adults with generalized anxiety disorder is reduced by treatment: A placebo-controlled evaluation of escitalopram. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2011 May;19(5):482-90. PubMed PMID: 20808146 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3424606

Wetherell JL, Stoddard JA, White KS, Kornblith S, Nguyen H, Andreescu C, Zisook S, Lenze EJ. Augmenting antidepressant medication with modular CBT for geriatric generalized anxiety disorder: A pilot study. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2011 Aug;26(8):869-75. PubMed PMID: 20872925 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4070295

Andreescu C, Gross JJ, Lenze E, Edelman KD, Snyder S, Tanase C, Aizenstein H. Altered cerebral blood flow patterns associated with pathologic worry in the elderly. Depress Anxiety. 2011 Mar;28(3):202-9. PubMed PMID: 21394853 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3225118

Butters MA, Bhalla RK, Andreescu C, Wetherell JL, Mantella R, Begley AE, Lenze EJ. Changes in neuropsychological functioning following treatment for late-life generalised anxiety disorder. Br J Psychiatry. 2011 Sept;199(3):211-8. PubMed PMID: 21727232 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3633554

Aizenstein HJ, Andreescu C, Edelman KL, Cochran JL, Price J, Butters MA, Karp J, Patel M, Reynolds CF 3rd. fMRI correlates of white matter hyperintensities in late-life depression. Am J Psychiatry. 2011 Oct;168 (10):1075-82. PubMed PMID: 21799066 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3656408

Andreescu C, Wu M, Butters MA, Figurski J, Reynolds CF 3rd, Aizenstein HJ. The default mode network in late-life anxious depression. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2011 Nov;19(11):980-3. PubMed PMID: 21765344 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3200466

Wu M, Andreescu C,* Butters MA, Tamburo R, Reynolds CF 3rd, Aizenstein H. Default-mode network connectivity and white matter burden in late-life depression. Psychiatry Res. 2011 Oct;194(1):39-46. PubMed PMID: 21824753 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3189685

Lenze EJ, Dixon D, Mantella RC, Dore PM, Andreescu C, Reynolds CF 3rd, Newcomer JW, Butters MA. Treatment-related alteration of cortisol predicts change in neuropsychological function during acute treatment of late-life anxiety disorder. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2012 May;27(5):454-62. PubMed PMID: 21681817 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4601802

Wetherell JL, Petkus AJ, White KS, Nguyen H, Kornblith S, Andreescu C, Zisook S, Lenze EJ. Antidepressant medication augmented with cognitive-behavioral therapy for generalized anxiety disorder in older adults. Am J Psychiatry. 2013 July;170(7):782-9. PubMed PMID: 23680817 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4090227

Andreescu C, Tudorascu DL, Butters MA, Tamburo E, Patel M, Price J, Karp JF, Reynolds CF 3rd, Aizenstein H. Resting state functional connectivity and treatment response in late-life depression. Psychiatry Res. 2013 Dec;214(3):313-21.  PubMed PMID: 24144505 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3865521

Andreescu C, Teverovsky E, Fu B, Hughes TF, Chang CC, Ganguli M. Old worries and new anxieties: Behavioral symptoms and mild cognitive impairment in a population study. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2014 Mar;22(3):274-84. PubMed PMID: 23759435 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3783616

Aizenstein HJ, Khalaf A, Walker SE, Andreescu C. Magnetic resonance imaging predictors of treatment response in late-life depression. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 2014 Mar;27(1):24-32. PubMed PMID: 24381231 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4103612.

Andreescu C, Sheu LK, Tudorascu DL, Walker S, Aizenstein HJ. The ages of anxiety – differences across the lifespan in the default mode network functional connectivity in generalized anxiety disorder. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2014 Jul;29(7):704-12. PubMed PMID: 24254806 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4028428

Andreescu C, Sheu LK, Tudorascu D, Gross JJ, Walker S, Banihashemi L, Aizenstein H. Emotion reactivity and regulation in late-life generalized anxiety disorder: Functional connectivity at baseline and post-treatment. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2015 Jul;23(2):200-14. PubMEd PMID: 24996397 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4234701

Patel MJ, Andreescu C, Price JC, Edelman KL, Reynolds CF 3rd, Aizenstein HJ. Machine learning approaches for integrating clinical and imaging features in late-life depression classification and response prediction. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2015 Oct;30(10):1056-67. PubMed PMID: 25689482 PubMed Cenral PMCID: PMC4683603

Lee JH, Ryan J, Andreescu C, Aizenstein H, Lim HK. Brainstem morphological changes in Alzheimer’s disease. Neuroreport. 2015 May;26(7):411-5. PubMed PMID: 25830491 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4415522

Andreescu C, Mennin D, Tudorascu D, Sheu LK, Walker S, Banihashemi L, Aizenstein H. The many faces of anxiety-neurobiological correlates of anxiety phenotypes. Psychiatry Res. 2015 Oct 30;234(1):96-105. PubMed PMID: 26347412 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4651749

Khalaf A, Edelman K, Tudorascu D, Andreescu C, Reynolds CF, Aizenstein H. White matter hyperintensity accumulation during treatment of late-life depression. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2015 Dec;40(13):3027-35. PubMed PMID: 26058663 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4864637

Rosnick CB, Wetherell JL, White KS, Andreescu C, Dixon D, Lenze EJ. Cognitive-behavioral therapy augmentation of SSRI reduces cortisol levels in older adults with generalized anxiety disorder: A randomized clinical trial. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2016 Apr;84(4):345-52. PubMed PMID: 26881447 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4801773

Khalaf A, Karim H, Berkout OV, Andreescu C, Tudorascu D, Reynolds CF, Aizenstein H. Altered functional magnetic resonance imaging markers of affective processing during treatment of late-life depression. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2016 Oct;24(10):791-801. PubMed PMID: 27364483 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5026904

Karim HT, Andreescu C, MacCloud RL, Butters MA, Reynolds CF 3rd, Aizenstein HJ, Tudorascu DL. The effects of white matter disease on the accuracy of automated segmentation. Psychiatry Res. 2016 Jul 30;253:7-14. PubMed PMID: 27254085 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5746872

Karim HT, Tudorascu D, Aizenstein HJ, Walker S, Good R, and Andreescu C. Emotion reactivity and cerebrovascular burden in late-life GAD - A neuroimaging study. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2016 Nov;24(11):1040-1050. PubMed PMID 27633897 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5914171

Karim HT, Andreescu C, Tudorascu D, Smagula SF, Butters MA, Karp JF, Reynolds CF III, Aizenstein HJ. Intrinsic functional connectivity in late-life depression: Trajectories over the course of pharmacotherapy in remitters and non-remitters. Mol Psychiatry. 2017 Mar;22(3):450-57. PubMed PMID:27090303 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5322273

Karim HT, Tudorascu DL, Butters MA, Walker S, Aizenstein HJ, and Andreescu C*. In the grip of worry – cerebral blood flow changes during worry induction and reappraisal in late-life generalized anxiety disorder. Transl Psychiatry. 2017 Aug 15;7(8):e1204. PubMed PMID: 28809854 PubMed Central  PMCID: PMC5611745

Andreescu C,* Tudorascu D, Sheu LK, Rangarajan A, Butters MA, Walker S, Berta R, Desmidt T, Aizenstein H. Brain structural changes in late-life generalized anxiety disorder. Psychiatry Res. 2017 Oct 30;268:15-21. PubMed PMID 28837828 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5593792

Karim H, Wang M, Andreescu C, Tudorascu D, Butters M, Karp J, Reynolds C, Aizenstein H. Acute Trajectories of Neural Activation Predict Remission to Pharmacotherapy in Late-Life Depression. Neuroimage: Clinical 2018 Jun 8;19:831-839. PubMed PMID: 30013927 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6024196

Wei W, Karim HT, Lin C, Mizuno A, Andreescu C, Karp JF, Reynolds CR 3rd, Aizenstein HJ. Trajectories in cerebral blood flow following antidepressant treatment in late-life depression: Support for the vascular depression hypothesis. J Clin Psychuiatry. 2018 Oct 23; 79(6). PubMed PMCID: PMC6419103 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6419103

Inagaki TK, Hazlett LI and Andreescu C. Naltrexone alters responses to social and physical warmth: implications for social bonding. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2019 May 31;14(5):471-479. PubMed PMID: 30976797 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6545530

Wu M, Mennin DS, Ly M, Karim HT, Banihashemi L, Tudorascu DL, Aizenstein HJ, Andreescu C. When worry may be good for you: Worry severity and limbic-prefrontal functional connectivity in late-life generalized anxiety disorder. J Affect Dis. 2019 Oct 1; 257:650-657. PubMed PMID 31357162 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6711791

Inagaki T, Hazlett L, Andreescu C. Opioids and social bonding: effect of naltrexone on feelings of social connection and ventral striatum activity to close others. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2020 Apr; 149(4):732-745. PubMed PMID: 31414860 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7021584

Sullivan KJ, Liu A, Dodge HH, Andreescu C, Chang CH, Ganguli M. Depression Symptoms Declining Among Older Adults: Birth Cohort Analyses From the Rust Belt. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2020 Jan;28(1):99-107. PubMed PMID: 31300193 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6898763

Zugman A, Harrewijn A, Cardinale EM, Zwiebel H, Freitag GF, Werwath KE, Bas-Hoogendam JM, Groenewold NA, Aghajani M, Hilbert K, Cardoner N, Porta-Casteràs D, Gosnell S, Salas R, Blair KS, Blair JR, Hammoud MZ, Milad M, Burkhouse K, Phan KL, Schroeder HK, Strawn JR, Beesdo-Baum K, Thomopoulos SI, Grabe HJ, Van der Auwera S, Wittfeld K, Nielsen JA, Buckner R, Smoller JW, Mwangi B, Soares JC, Wu MJ, Zunta-Soares GB, Jackowski AP, Pan PM, Salum GA, Assaf M, Diefenbach GJ, Brambilla P, Maggioni E, Hofmann D, Straube T, Andreescu C, Berta R, Tamburo E, Price R, Manfro GG, Critchley HD, Makovac E, Mancini M, Meeten F, Ottaviani C, Agosta F, Canu E, Cividini C, Filippi M, Kostić M, Munjiza A, Filippi CA, Leibenluft E, Alberton BAV, Balderston NL, Ernst M, Grillon C, Mujica-Parodi LR, van Nieuwenhuizen H, Fonzo GA, Paulus MP, Stein MB, Gur RE, Gur RC, Kaczkurkin AN, Larsen B, Satterthwaite TD, Harper J, Myers M, Perino MT, Yu Q, Sylvester CM, Veltman DJ, Lueken U, Van der Wee NJA, Stein DJ, Jahanshad N, Thompson PM, Pine DS, Winkler AM. Mega-analysis methods in ENIGMA: The experience of the generalized anxiety disorder working group. Hum Brain Mapp. 2020 Jun 29. Epub ahead of print. PubMed PMID: 32596977 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8675407

Lee DY, Cho J, You SC, Park RW, Kim CS, Lee EY, Aizenstein H, Andreescu C, Karim H, Hong CH, Rho HW, Park B, Son SJ. Risk of mortality in elderly coronavirus disease 2019 patients with mental health disorders: A Nationwide retrospective study in South Korea. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2020 Dec; 28(12):1308-1316. PubMed PMID: 33023798 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7521355

Karim HT, Ly M, Yu G, Krafty R, Tudorascu DL, Aizenstein HJ, Andreescu C.* Aging faster: worry and rumination in late life are associated with greater brain age. Neurobiol Aging. 2021 May;101:13-21. PubMed PMID: 33561786 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8122027

Ross LP, Andreescu C, Inagaki TK. Relationship between early maternal warmth and social connection: A randomized clinical trial with naltrexone. Psychosom Med. 2021 Oct 1;83(8):924-931. PubMed PMID: 34292204 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8687105

Harrewijn A, Cardinale E, Groenewold N, Bas-Hoogendam JM, Aghajani M, Hilbert K, Cardoner N, Porta-Casteràs D, Gosnell S, Salas R, Jackowski A, Pan A, Salum G, Blair K, Blair J, Hammoud M, Milad M, Burkhouse KL, Phan KL, Schroeder H, Strawn J, Beesdo-Baum K, Jahanshad N, Thomopoulos S, Buckner R, Nielsen J, Smoller J, Soares J, Mwangi B, Wu M-J, Zunta-Soares G, Assaf M, Diefenbach G, Brambilla P, Maggioni E, Hofmann D, Straube T, Andreescu C, Berta R, Tamburo E, Price R, Manfro G, Agosta F, Canu E, Cividini C, Filippi M,  Kostic M, Munjiza-Jovanovic A, Alberton B,  Benson B, Freitag G, Filippi C, Gold A, Leibenluft E, Ringlein G, Werwath K, Zwiebel H, Zugman A, Grabe H, Van der Auwera S, Wittfeld K, Völzke H, Bülow R, Balderston N, Ernst M, Grillon C, Mujica-Parodi L, van Nieuwenhuizen H, Critchley H, Makovac E, Mancini M, Meeten F, Ottaviani C, Ball T, Fonzo G, Paulus M, Stein M, Gur R, Gur R, Kaczkurkin A, Larsen B, Satterthwaite T, Harper J, Myers M, Perino M, Sylvester C, Yu Q, Lueken U, Veltman D, Thompson P, Stein D, van der Wee N, Winkler, A, and Pine D (S). Cortical and subcortical brain structure in generalized anxiety disorder – Findings from 28 research sites in the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group. Transl Psychiatry 2021 Oct 1;11(1):502. doi:10.1038/s41398-021-01622-1. PubMed PMID: 34599145 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8486763

Gerlach AR, Karim HT, Kazan J, Aizenstein HJ, Krafty RT, Andreescu C. Networks of worry—towards a connectivity-based signature of late-life worry using higher criticism. Transl Psychiatry. 2021 Oct 28;11(1):550. doi: 10.1038/s41398-021-01648-5. PubMed PMID: 34711810 PubMed Central PMCID : PMC8553743

Kolobaric A, Karim HT, Banihashemi L, Mizuno A, Aizenstein HJ, Andreescu C.* Are all anxieties created equal? Stress-related networks and anxiety phenotypes in old age. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, 2021 Dec 11: S1064-7481(21)00560-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2021.12.007. Online ahead of print.PMID: 35000866

Lee E, Karim H, Andreescu C, Mizuno A, Aizenstein H, Lee H, Lee D, Lee K, Cho SM, Kim D, Park RW, Son SJ, Park B. Network modeling of anxiety and psychological characteristics on suicidal behavior: Cross-sectional study. J Affect Disord. 2022 Feb 15;299:545-552. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.12.050. Epub 2021 Dec 2021. PubMed PMID: 34952111

Mizuno A, Karim HT, Newmark J, Khan F, Rosenblatt MJ, Neppach AM, Lowe M, Aizenstein HJ, Mennin DS, Andreescu C.* Thinking of me or thinking of you? Behavioral correlates of self vs. other centered worry and reappraisal in late-life. 2022 Jun 22;13:780745. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.780745. PubMed PMID: 35815034 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9256986