Wiggins Jillian Lee, Schwartz Karen T G, Kryza-Lacombe Maria, Spechler Philip A, Blankenship Sarah L, Dougherty Lea R
San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, United States; Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, United States.
San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, United States.
J Affect Disord. 2017 May;214:81-88. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.03.020. Epub 2017 Mar 7.
Identifying neural profiles predictive of future psychopathology in at-risk individuals is important to efficiently direct preventive care. Alterations in reward processing may be a risk factor for depression. The current study characterized neural substrates of reward processing in children at low- and high-risk for psychopathology due to maternal depression status.
Children with (n=27) and without (n=19) maternal depression (ages 5.9-9.6 years) performed a monetary incentive delay task in which they received rewards, if they successfully hit a target, or no reward regardless of performance, during fMRI acquisition.
Multiple dorsal prefrontal, temporal, and striatal regions showed significant Group (high- vs. low-risk)×Performance (hit vs. miss)×Condition (no reward vs. reward) interactions in a whole-brain analysis. All regions exhibited similar patterns, whereby the high-risk group showed blunted activation differences between trials with vs. without rewards when participants hit the target. Moreover, high-risk children showed activation differences between trials with vs. without rewards in the opposite direction, compared to the low-risk group, when they missed the target.
This study had a modest sample size, though larger than existing studies. Children with maternal depression are at elevated risk for future psychopathology, yet not all experience clinically significant symptoms; longitudinal research is necessary to fully track the pathway from risk to disorder.
Children of depressed mothers exhibited attenuated neural activation differences and activation patterns opposite to children without depressed mothers. Our findings may provide targets for hypothesis-driven preventive interventions and lead to earlier identification of individuals at risk.
识别有风险个体中预测未来精神病理学的神经特征对于有效指导预防保健很重要。奖赏加工的改变可能是抑郁症的一个风险因素。本研究描述了因母亲抑郁状态而处于低风险和高风险的儿童奖赏加工的神经基质。
有（n = 27）和无（n = 19）母亲抑郁的儿童（年龄5.9 - 9.6岁）在功能磁共振成像采集期间执行一项金钱激励延迟任务，在此任务中，如果他们成功击中目标，就会获得奖励，或者无论表现如何都不会获得奖励。
在全脑分析中，多个背侧前额叶、颞叶和纹状体区域显示出显著的组（高风险与低风险）×表现（击中与未击中）×条件（无奖励与奖励）交互作用。所有区域都表现出相似的模式，即当参与者击中目标时，高风险组在有奖励与无奖励试验之间的激活差异减弱。此外，当高风险儿童未击中目标时，与低风险组相比，他们在有奖励与无奖励试验之间的激活差异方向相反。
本研究样本量适中，尽管比现有研究大。有母亲抑郁的儿童未来患精神病理学的风险较高，但并非所有人都有临床显著症状；需要进行纵向研究以全面追踪从风险到疾病的路径。
母亲抑郁的儿童表现出减弱的神经激活差异以及与母亲无抑郁的儿童相反的激活模式。我们的发现可能为假设驱动的预防性干预提供靶点，并有助于更早识别有风险的个体。
