The effect of emotional faces on reward-related probability learning in depressed patients

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Tarih

2024

Dergi Başlığı

Dergi ISSN

Cilt Başlığı

Yayıncı

Elsevier

Erişim Hakkı

info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess

Özet

Background: Existing research indicates that individuals with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) exhibit a bias toward salient negative stimuli. However, the impact of such biased stimuli on concurrent cognitive and affective processes in individuals with depression remains inadequately understood. This study aimed to investigate the effects of salient environmental stimuli, specifically emotional faces, on reward-associated processes in MDD. Methods: Thirty-three patients with recurrent MDD and thirty-two healthy controls (HC) matched for age, sex, and education were included in the study. We used a reward-related associative learning (RRAL) task primed with emotional (happy, sad, neutral) faces to investigate the effect of salient stimuli on reward-related learning and decision-making in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants were instructed to ignore emotional faces during the task. The fMRI data were analyzed using a full-factorial general linear model (GLM) in Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM12). Results: In depressed patients, cues primed with sad faces were associated with reduced amygdala activation. However, both HC and MDD group exhibited reduced ventral striatal activity while learning reward-related cues and receiving rewards. Limitations: The patients'medication usage was not standardized. Conclusions: This study underscores the functional alteration of the amygdala in response to cognitive tasks presented with negative emotionally salient stimuli in the environment of MDD patients. The observed alterations in amygdala activity suggest potential interconnected effects with other regions of the prefrontal cortex. Understanding the intricate neural connections and their disruptions in depression is crucial for unraveling the complex pathophysiology of the disorder.

Açıklama

Anahtar Kelimeler

Probabilistic Reward Learning, Reward Processing, Depression, Amygdala, Striatum, Fmri

Kaynak

Journal of Affective Disorders

WoS Q Değeri

N/A

Scopus Q Değeri

Q1

Cilt

351

Sayı

Künye