Self-processing in relation to emotion and reward processing in depression

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Catherine Hobbs ◽  
Jie Sui ◽  
David Kessler ◽  
Marcus R. Munafò ◽  
Katherine S. Button
Keyword(s):  
Learning Task ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Implicit Associations ◽  
Social Evaluation ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Precise Relationship

Abstract Background Depression is characterised by a heightened self-focus, which is believed to be associated with differences in emotion and reward processing. However, the precise relationship between these cognitive domains is not well understood. We examined the role of self-reference in emotion and reward processing, separately and in combination, in relation to depression. Methods Adults experiencing varying levels of depression (n = 144) completed self-report depression measures (PHQ-9, BDI-II). We measured self, emotion and reward processing, separately and in combination, using three cognitive tasks. Results When self-processing was measured independently of emotion and reward, in a simple associative learning task, there was little association with depression. However, when self and emotion processing occurred in combination in a self-esteem go/no-go task, depression was associated with an increased positive other bias [b = 3.51, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.24–5.79]. When the self was processed in relation to emotion and reward, in a social evaluation learning task, depression was associated with reduced positive self-biases (b = 0.11, 95% CI 0.05–0.17). Conclusions Depression was associated with enhanced positive implicit associations with others, and reduced positive learning about the self, culminating in reduced self-favouring biases. However, when self, emotion and reward processing occurred independently there was little evidence of an association with depression. Treatments targeting reduced positive self-biases may provide more sensitive targets for therapeutic intervention and potential biomarkers of treatment responses, allowing the development of more effective interventions.

scholarly journals Oxytocin facilitates valence-dependent valuation of social evaluation of the self

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danyang Wang ◽  
Yina Ma
Keyword(s):  
Image Formation ◽  
Choice Task ◽  
The Self ◽  
Social Evaluation ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Self Image ◽  
Feedback Learning ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
Computational Processes

AbstractPeople are eager to know the self in other’s eyes even with personal costs. However, what drives people costly to know evaluations remains unknown. Here we tested the hypothesis of placing subjective value on knowing social evaluations. To quantify the subjective value, we developed a pay-to-know choice task where individuals trade off profits against knowing social evaluations. Individuals computed independent unknown aversion towards positive and negative social evaluations and placed higher values on knowing social evaluation on positive than negative aspects. Such a valence-dependent valuation of social evaluation was facilitated by oxytocin, a neuropeptide linked to feedback learning and valuation processes, by decreasing values of negative social evaluation. Moreover, individuals scoring high in depression undervalued positive social evaluation, which was normalized by oxytocin. We reveal the psychological and computational processes underlying self-image formation/update and suggest a role of oxytocin in normalizing hypo-valuation of positive social evaluation in depression.

scholarly journals Beliefs about voices in voice-hearers: the role of schema functioning

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 584-597
Author(s):  
Brittany Davenport ◽  
Mike Jackson ◽  
James A. Grange ◽  
Michelle Rydon-Grange
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Patterns Of Relating ◽  
Self Schema ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractBackground:Evidence is emerging that beliefs about voices are influenced by broader schematic beliefs about the self and others. Similarly, studies indicate that the relationship an individual has with their voice may mirror wider patterns of relating observed in social relationships, which may be influenced by schematic beliefs.Aims:This study examined associations between beliefs about voices and self and other schemas. Furthermore, associations between schemas and the perceived relationship between the hearer and their predominant voice were explored.Method:Forty-four voice-hearing participants were recruited across mental health services. Participants completed self-report measures of beliefs about voices, schema functioning, and relating between the hearer and their voice. Dimensions of voice experience, such as frequency and content, were assessed using a clinician-rated scale.Results:Beliefs about voices correlated with negative voice content and schemas. After controlling for negative voice content, schemas were estimated to predict between 1 and 17% of the variance in the six measured beliefs about voices; three of the associations reached statistical significance. Negative-self schema were the strongest predictors of beliefs about voices, whilst positive-self also showed potential relationships. Schemas also correlated with dimensions of relating between the hearer and their voice.Conclusions:In line with previous research, this study provides evidence that schemas, particularly self-schema, may be important in the development of beliefs about voices. This study offers preliminary findings to suggest that schemas are also associated with the perceived relationship between the hearer and their voice.

scholarly journals Why do anxious children become depressed teenagers? The role of social evaluative threat and reward processing

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (10) ◽  
pp. 2095-2107 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Silk ◽  
S. Davis ◽  
D. L. McMakin ◽  
R. E. Dahl ◽  
E. E. Forbes
Keyword(s):  
Pubertal Development ◽  
Intervention Strategies ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Developmental Model ◽  
Social Evaluation ◽  
Social Evaluative Threat ◽  
Anxious Youth ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Developmental Window

BackgroundDepression is a leading cause of worldwide disability. Adolescence represents a key developmental window in which rates of this disorder increase markedly. Children with an anxiety disorder show a particular risk of developing depression during adolescence.MethodWe present and review evidence for a developmental model that considers the intersection of two vulnerabilities relevant to the trajectory from anxiety to depression: difficulties in response to potential social evaluation and changes in reward processing at puberty.ResultsEvidence suggests that these vulnerabilities (a) have been associated with depression, (b) are likely to be problematic in many, but not all, anxious youth, and (c) may be exacerbated by maturational processes that occur around pubertal development in ways that can create a negative spiral into a depressive disorder.ConclusionsWe discuss the possibility that early intervention strategies targeting key aspects of these vulnerabilities could alter the trajectory away from depression for many anxious youth.

scholarly journals Amphetamine alters the Reward Positivity in humans and mice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James F Cavanagh ◽  
Sarah Olguin ◽  
Jo Talledo ◽  
Juliana Kotz ◽  
Benjamin Roberts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Learning Task ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Reward Sensitivity ◽  
Probabilistic Learning ◽  
Reward Positivity ◽  
Band Power ◽  
Delta Band ◽  
The Impact

The development of pro-cognitive therapeutics for psychiatric disorders has been beset with difficulties. This is in part due to the absence of pharmacologically-sensitive cognitive biomarkers common to humans and rodents. Here, we describe a cross-species translational measure of reward processing that is sensitive to the dopamine agonist, d-amphetamine. Motivated by human electroencephalographic (EEG) findings, we recently reported that frontal midline delta-band power is also an electrophysiological biomarker of reward surprise in mice. Here, we determined the impact on this reward-related EEG response from humans (n=23) and mice (n=28) performing a probabilistic learning task under parametric doses of d-amphetamine (human: placebo, 10 mg, 20 mg; mice: placebo, 0.1 mg/kg, 0.3 mg.kg, 1.0 mg/kg). In humans, d-amphetamine boosted the Reward Positivity event-related potential (ERP) component as well as the spectral delta-band representation of this signal. In mice, only the Reward Positivity ERP component was significantly boosted by d-amphetamine. In sum, the present results confirm the role of dopamine in the generation of the Reward Positivity, and support the first pharmacologically valid biomarker of reward sensitivity across species.

scholarly journals A comparison of self-bias measures across cognitive domains

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Letizia Amodeo ◽  
Jan R. Wiersema ◽  
Marcel Brass ◽  
Annabel D. Nijhof
Keyword(s):  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Cognitive Domain ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Bayesian Analyses ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Weak Support ◽  
Self Bias

Abstract Background The ‘self-bias’—i.e., the human proneness to preferentially process self-relevant stimuli—is thought to be important for both self-related and social processing. Previous research operationalized the self-bias using different paradigms, assessing the size of the self-bias within a single cognitive domain. Recent studies suggested a reduced self-bias in autism, yet findings are inconsistent. The lack of consensus across existing studies may result from variation in paradigms and cognitive domains tested. Therefore, the primary goal of the current study was to investigate whether self-biases found across cognitive domains (i.e., perception, memory, attention) are related or independent. The secondary goal was to explore the relationship between these self-biases and the extent of autistic traits in a neurotypical sample. Methods In an online procedure, 99 Dutch-speaking adults performed three self-processing tasks in counterbalanced order—i.e., the shape-label matching task (perception), the trait adjectives task (memory) and the visual search task (attention)—and completed two self-report measures of ASD symptomatology, i.e., AQ-10 and SRS-A. To control for level of familiarity, self-, close other- and famous other-relevant stimuli were included in each task. Repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted for each task, and both frequentist as well as Bayesian analyses were applied to investigate the correlational patterns between self-bias measures. Results We observed significant correlations of the self-bias magnitude between memory and attention, as well as attention and perception. However, Bayesian analysis provided only weak support for the latter association. Further, the size of the self-bias was not significantly related across memory and perception. No significant correlation between autistic traits and the self-bias magnitude was found for any of the three tasks, with Bayesian analyses strongly favoring the null hypothesis. Conclusions In contrast with the view of a ‘unidimensional’ self-bias, our findings provide evidence for a heterogeneous and multifaceted self consisting of a variety of related and unrelated aspects. None of the self-bias indices were found to relate to autistic traits in our neurotypical sample.

scholarly journals Pay to know me in your eyes: A computational account and oxytocin modulation of social evaluation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danyang Wang ◽  
Yina Ma
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Social Feedback ◽  
Social Evaluation ◽  
Personal Cost ◽  
Self Image ◽  
Feedback Learning ◽  
Computational Support ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
The Social

AbstractPeople are eager to know and recast the self in the eyes of others, even at a personal cost. However, it remains unknown what drives people to pursue costly evaluations of the self. Here, we propose that the evaluation of the self is valuable and that such subjective value placed on evaluation drives the costly-to-know behavior. By measuring the amount of money that individuals would forgo for the opportunity to know evaluations from other people (social evaluation) or a computer program (non-social evaluation), we quantified the subjective value individuals assigned to the evaluation on the self. The results from 5 studies (n = 375) lent cognitive and computational support for this hypothesis. Furthermore, the subjective value was modulated by the source and valence of the evaluation. Participants equally valued positive and negative non-social evaluations, characterized by a shared unknown aversion computation. However, individuals computed independent unknown aversion towards positive and negative social evaluations and placed a higher value on the opportunity to know another person’s evaluation on positive than negative aspects. Such a valence-dependent valuation of the social evaluation was facilitated by oxytocin, a neuropeptide linked to linked to social feedback learning and valuation processes, which decreased the value ascribed to negative social evaluation. Taken together, the current study reveals the psychological and computational processes underlying self-image formation and updating and suggests a role of oxytocin in modulating the value of social evaluation.

An Investigation into the Role of Personality and Situation in the Maintenance of Subjective Experience in a Laboratory

2002 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 319-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Smallwood ◽  
Marc Obonsawin ◽  
Derek Heim ◽  
Helga Reid
Keyword(s):  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Source Monitoring ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Verbal Reports ◽  
Personality Variables ◽  
Task Processing ◽  
Fluency Task

This study investigated the relationship between personality variables, task processing, and the self-report of subjective experience, including thought content, time perception, and awareness of task stimuli. In particular, this study was concerned with dis-entangling the role of environmental and dispositional influences on subjective experience. Thirty-eight participants were engaged in either a memory or a fluency task during which verbal reports of various aspects of subjective experience were recorded. Personality variables were measured using the Self-Consciousness Scale and the Thought Occurrence Questionnaire. The pattern of correlations between specific subjective aspects of attention and dispositional indices suggested that dispositional variables were important in determining subjective experience during the memory task, particularly in the encoding phase. In the fluency task, disposition made a smaller contribution to specific measures of attention, a finding consistent with a self-regulatory framework. Finally, the report of thoughts unrelated to the current situation were proportional to the number of false positives reported in the memory task, supporting the assertion that the quality of phenomenal experience is important in the process of source monitoring.

Computational mechanisms underlying social evaluation learning and associations with depressive symptoms during adolescence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Katherine Bone ◽  
Alexandra Claire Pike ◽  
Gemma Lewis ◽  
Glyn Lewis ◽  
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Sharp Increase ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
The Self ◽  
Learning Models ◽  
Social Evaluation ◽  
Prior Beliefs ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
School Based ◽  
Reinforcement Learning Models

There is a sharp increase in depression in adolescence, but why this occurs is not well understood. We investigated how adolescents learn about social evaluation and whether learning is associated with depressive symptoms. In a cross-sectional school-based study, 598 adolescents (aged 11-15 years) completed a social evaluation learning task and the short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire. We developed and validated reinforcement learning models, formalising the processes hypothesised to underlie learning about social evaluation. Adolescents started the learning task with a positive expectation that they and others would be liked, and this positive bias was larger for the self than others. Expectations about the self were more resistant to feedback than expectations about others. Only initial expectations were associated with depressive symptoms; adolescents whose expectations were less positive had more severe symptoms. Consistent with cognitive theories, prior beliefs about social evaluation may be a risk factor for depressive symptoms.

Reconciling autistic individuals’ self-reported social motivation with diminished social reward responsiveness in neuroimaging

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa D. Yankowitz ◽  
Caitlin C. Clements
Keyword(s):  
Social Motivation ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Social Reward ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Reward Responsiveness ◽  
The Social

Abstract The self-report of some autistic individuals that they experience social motivation should not be interpreted as a refutation of neuroimaging evidence supporting the social motivation hypothesis of autism. Neuroimaging evidence supports subtle differences in unconscious reward processing, which emerge at the group level and which may not be perceptible to individuals, but which may nonetheless impact an individual's behavior.

scholarly journals A comparison of self-bias measures across cognitive domains

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Letizia Amodeo ◽  
Jan Roeljan Wiersema ◽  
Marcel Brass ◽  
Annabel Nijhof
Keyword(s):  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Cognitive Domain ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Bayesian Analyses ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Weak Support ◽  
Self Bias

Abstract Background: The ‘self-bias’ – i.e., the human proneness to preferentially process self-relevant stimuli – is thought to be important for both self-related and social processing. Previous research operationalized the self-bias using different paradigms, assessing the size of the self-bias within a single cognitive domain. Recent studies suggested a reduced self-bias in autism, yet findings are inconsistent. Therefore, the primary goal of the current study was to investigate whether self-biases found across cognitive domains (i.e., perception, memory, attention) are related or independent. The secondary goal was to explore the relationship between these self-biases and the extent of autistic traits in a neurotypical sample.Methods: In an online procedure, 99 Dutch-speaking adults performed three self-processing tasks in counterbalanced order – i.e., the shape-label matching task (perception), the trait adjectives task (memory) and the visual search task (attention) – and completed two self-report measures of ASD symptomatology, i.e., AQ-10 and SRS-A. To control for level of familiarity, self-, close other- and famous other-relevant stimuli were included in each task. Repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted for each task, and both frequentist as well as Bayesian analyses were applied to investigate the correlational patterns between self-bias measures.Results: We observed significant correlations of the self-bias magnitude between memory and attention, as well as attention and perception. However, Bayesian analysis provided only weak support for the latter association. Further, the size of the self-bias was not significantly related across memory and perception. For neither of the tasks, a significant correlation between autistic traits and the self-bias magnitude was found, with Bayesian analyses strongly favoring the null hypothesis.Conclusions: In contrast with the view of a ‘unidimensional’ self-bias, our findings provide evidence for a heterogeneous and multifaceted self consisting of a variety of related and unrelated aspects. None of the self-bias indices were found to relate to autistic traits in our neurotypical sample.

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