Steroid study reveals brain changes in just 3 days

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Men and women age 18-50 years with vision corrected to at least 20-40 (needed for fMRI tasks) * Education of ≥ 12 years * Baseline RAVLT total words recalled T-score ≥ 40 (normal range) * BMI between 18.5-35.0 (neither underweight nor severely obese) * Baseline QIDS-C ≤ 5 (virtual absence of depressive symptoms) for "healthy controls" and for the "depressed" group a QIDS-C between 11-20 (≥ moderate depressive symptoms but \< very severe depressive symptoms) Exclusion Criteria: * History of major psychiatric illness other than MDD for the depressed group, defined as bipolar disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia, eating disorders, or MDD with psychotic features. For the control group, a past episode of MDD (per SCID) is also exclusionary * History of drug or alcohol use disorder * History of neurological disorders including seizures, brain surgery, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease * Taking CNS-acting medications (e.g., antidepressants, antipsychotics, lithium, anticonvulsants, sedative/hypnotic/anxiolytics). Thus, the depressed group will be medication free. * History of allergic reaction or medical contraindication to hydrocortisone * Metal implants, claustrophobia, or other contraindications to MRI * Significant medical conditions (e.g., cancer, heart disease, diabetes) * Vulnerable population including pregnant or nursing women, prisoners, and people with intellectual disability, history of special education classes, dementia, or other severe cognitive disorders * Current suicidal ideation, a suicide attempt in the past 12 months or more than one lifetime attempt * History of systemic CS use in the past 12 months, lifetime cumulative use of more than 12 weeks, or recent (defined as past 28 days) inhaled CS use * Women who are using estrogen containing oral contraceptive agents (other contraceptives are acceptable, see Protection of Human Subjects section for a list of acceptable birth control methods) or who are post- or peri-menopausal or with irregular menstrual cycles (i.e., inconsistent menstruation patterns)