Study Report
Reference
| Citation | Knutson, 2008 PubMed |
| Full Info | Knutson, B., Bhanji, J.P., Cooney, R.E., Atlas, L.Y. and Gotlib, I.H. (2008) Neural responses to monetary incentives in major depression. Biol Psychiatry, 63, 686-692.
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Study
| Hypothesis or Background |
Reduced responsiveness to positive incentives is a central feature of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). In the present study, we compared neural correlates of monetary incentive processing in unmedicated depressed participants and never-depressed control subjects.
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| Sample Information | Fourteen currently depressed (5 male,age 28.67±4.25) and 12 never-depressed participants (4 male,age 30.71±8.80). Participants who were currently taking psychotropic medication (including antidepressant drugs) or who had taken psychotropic medication 3 months before the scan were excluded. |
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| Method Detail | Fourteen currently depressed and 12 never-depressed participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while participating in a monetary incentive delay task. During the task, participants were cued to anticipate and respond to a rapidly presented target to gain or avoid losing varying amounts of money. |
| Method Keywords | functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) |
| Result | Depressed and never-depressed participants did not differ in nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activation or in affective or behavioral responses during gain anticipation. Depressed participants did, however, exhibit increasing anterior cingulate activation during anticipation of increasing gains, whereas never-depressed participants showed increasing anterior cingulate activation during anticipation of increasing loss. Depressed participants also showed reduced discrimination of gain versus nongain outcomes. |
| Conclusions | The present findings indicate that although unmedicated depressed individuals have the capacity to experience positive arousal and recruit NAcc activation during gain anticipation, they also exhibit increased anterior cingulate cortex activation, suggestive of increased conflict during anticipation of gains, in addition to showing reduced discrimination of gain versus nongain outcomes. |
Relationships reported by
Knutson, 2008
| Component A Approved Name (Name in Paper) |
Component A Type |
Component B Approved Name (Name in Paper) |
Component B Type |
Statistical Result |
Relationship Description |
Result Category (Positive/Negative)) |
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MDD
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syndrome |
Reward processing (reduced discrimination of gain versus nongain outcomes) |
cognition and behavior |
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Depressed participants also showed reduced discrimination of gain versus nongain outcomes. |
Positive
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MDD
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syndrome |
Anterior cingulate cortex (anterior cingulate) |
brain morphology and function |
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Depressed participants exhibit increasing anterior cingulate activation during anticipation of increasing gains. |
Positive
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