Neural response to reward and depressive symptoms in late childhood to early adolescence.

Depression is a major public health concern, and the period from late childhood through early adolescence is a critical time in the development of depressive symptoms. In adults, depression and depressive symptoms are associated with a reduction in the feedback negativity (FN), an ERP component elicited by feedback indicating rewards versus losses. The current study sought to extend these findings to a sample of 64 children aged 8-13, and to examine developmental differences in the FN. Consistent with previous work in adults, higher depressive symptom scores were associated with a blunted FN across the sample. When responses to losses and gains were examined separately, only reduction in the response to monetary gain was associated with increased depressive symptoms. In the current study, the vast majority of children were pre-pubertal, and the FN was unrelated to both age and pubertal development. The FN may be an ideal biomarker for studying changes in reward sensitivity and depression that emerge as children transition through puberty.