Abnormal neural sensitivity to rewards as a candidate process of high depression risk in the 1 premutation: A pilot study.

The etiological heterogeneity of depression poses a challenge for prevention and intervention efforts. One solution is to map unique etiological pathways for subgroups defined by a singular risk factor. A relevant population for this approach is women who carry the premutation of the 1 (1) gene, who are at high risk for adult-onset depression. This study explores a candidate neurophysiological marker of depression risk: reduced reward sensitivity, indexed by the reward positivity (RewP). The RewP has been linked to depression risk in the general population, but is unexplored within 1 premutation carriers. 16 women with the 1 premutation and a matched control group completed a simple guessing task while the electroencephalogram was recorded. Among premutation carriers, RewP difference score (win versus loss) was reduced. These preliminary finding suggest that the 1 premutation may confer increased risk for depression in part through abnormal neural sensitivity to rewards.