Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Dynamic Digital Biomarkers of Motor and Cognitive Function in Parkinson's Disease
Published on: July 24, 2019
Defining melancholia: the primacy of psychomotor disturbance
1School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales and Black Dog Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia. g.parker@unsw.edu.au
Objective:
To argue that melancholia is a categorically distinct depressive condition, able to be differentiated from other depressive conditions by a neuropathological marker [observable psychomotor disturbance (PMD)] and having a differential response to various antidepressant treatments.
Method:
The above statements are addressed by review of a wide body of research, which identified observable PMD as the cardinal marker of melancholia and developed the CORE measure as a strategy for assessing PMD and its severity. Properties of the CORE measure, including reliability, validity and treatment prediction, are overviewed.
Results:
A case is made for defining melancholia and a strategy for establishing its probability.
Conclusion:
Melancholia is positioned as a categorical entity capable of being circumscribed by its cardinal feature of PMD.
Related Concept Videos
Depressive Disorders: MDD and Dysthymia
Introduction to Psychological Disorders
Deviant Behavior
Deviance in behavior refers to actions or thought patterns that significantly diverge from societal norms or...
Depression: Overview
Mania and Antimanic Drugs: Overview
Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia: Hallucinations and Delusions
Thought Disorders
Disorganized and unusual thought processes mark thought disorders in schizophrenia. One key feature is disorganized speech, where an individual's conversation includes loosely...
Bipolar Disorder
