Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Munich, Munich, Germany.
Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Aachen, Germany.
J Affect Disord. 2018 May;232:23-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2018.01.017. Epub 2018 Jan 31.
Altered reward and punishment function has been suggested as an important vulnerability factor for the development of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Prior ERP studies found evidence for neurophysiological dysfunctions in reinforcement processes in adults with MDD. To date, only few ERP studies have examined the neural underpinnings of reinforcement processing in adolescents diagnosed with MDD. The present event-related potential (ERP) study aimed to investigate neurophysiological mechanisms of anticipation and consumption of reward and punishment in adolescents with MDD in one comprehensive paradigm.
During ERP recording, 25 adolescents with MDD and 29 healthy controls (12-17 years) completed a Monetary Incentive Delay Task comprising both a monetary reward and a monetary punishment condition. During anticipation, the cue-P3 signaling attentional allocation was recorded. During consumption, the feedback-P3 and Reward Positivity (RewP) were recorded to capture attentional allocation and outcome evaluation, respectively.
Compared to controls, adolescents with MDD showed prolonged cue-P3 latencies to reward cues. Furthermore, unlike controls, adolescents with MDD displayed shorter feedback-P3 latencies in the reward versus punishment condition. RewPs did not differ between groups.
It remains unanswered whether the observed alterations in adolescent MDD represent a state or trait.
Delayed neural processing of reward cues corresponds to the clinical presentation of adolescent MDD with reduced motivational tendencies to obtain rewards. Relatively shorter feedback-P3 latencies in the reward versus punishment condition could indicate a high salience of performance-contingent reward. Frequent exposure of negatively biased adolescents with MDD to performance-contingent rewards might constitute a promising intervention approach.
奖励和惩罚功能的改变被认为是发展为重度抑郁症（MDD）的一个重要脆弱因素。先前的 ERP 研究发现，MDD 成年人的强化过程中存在神经生理功能障碍的证据。迄今为止，只有少数 ERP 研究检查了被诊断患有 MDD 的青少年强化处理的神经基础。本事件相关电位（ERP）研究旨在通过一个综合范式研究 MDD 青少年的预期和奖励及惩罚的神经生理机制。
在 ERP 记录期间，25 名患有 MDD 的青少年和 29 名健康对照者（12-17 岁）完成了一个货币激励延迟任务，该任务包括货币奖励和货币惩罚条件。在预期期间，记录了提示 P3 信号提示注意力分配。在消费期间，记录了反馈 P3 和奖励正性（RewP）以分别捕获注意力分配和结果评估。
与对照组相比，患有 MDD 的青少年对奖励线索的提示 P3 潜伏期延长。此外，与对照组不同，患有 MDD 的青少年在奖励与惩罚条件下的反馈 P3 潜伏期较短。组间 RewP 无差异。
观察到的青少年 MDD 的变化是否代表状态或特征仍未得到解答。
奖励线索的神经处理延迟对应于青少年 MDD 的临床表现，表现为获得奖励的动机倾向降低。奖励与惩罚条件下相对较短的反馈 P3 潜伏期可能表明与表现相关的奖励的高凸显性。经常使具有 MDD 的消极偏见的青少年接触表现相关的奖励可能构成一种有前途的干预方法。
