scholarly journals Acute Stress Reduces Reward-Related Neural Activity: Evidence from the Reward Positivity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kreshnik Burani ◽  
Austin Gallyer ◽  
Jon Ryan ◽  
Carson Jordan ◽  
Thomas Joiner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Stress Condition ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Reward Positivity ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Acute Stressor ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTStress and blunted reward processing are risk factors for mood disorders, including Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The experience of acute stress reduces fMRI correlates of reward-related neural activity; however, few studies have examined how acute stress impacts measures of reward derived from event-related potentials (ERPs). The current study examined the impact of an acute stressor on the Reward Positivity (RewP), an ERP that indexes reward sensitivity, in twenty-seven college students. Participants completed a monetary reward task while they placed their left hand in cold water set at 13 degrees Celsius (i.e., acute stress condition) and again while their hand was placed in room temperature water (i.e., control condition). These conditions were separated by one week and performed in a counter-balanced order across participants. The results revealed that the RewP amplitude was blunted in the acute stress condition compared to the control condition. Moreover, there was a trend toward this effect interacting with self-reported depressive symptoms: the RewP was only reduced among individuals who reported low depressive symptoms. The current study suggests that an acute stressor reduces the RewP, and that this effect might be moderated by current depressive symptoms. Future studies might examine the temporal association between reward processing and stress —and how they interact to predict depressive symptoms.

scholarly journals Risk and Resilience in an Acute Stress Paradigm: Evidence From Salivary Cortisol and Time-Frequency Analysis of the Reward Positivity

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 872-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paige Ethridge ◽  
Nida Ali ◽  
Sarah E. Racine ◽  
Jens C. Pruessner ◽  
Anna Weinberg
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Band ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Risk And Resilience ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Reward Positivity ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Reward Responsivity

Both abnormal stress and reward responsivity are consistently linked to multiple forms of psychopathology; however, the nature of the associations between stress and reward sensitivity remains poorly understood. In the present study, we examined associations between the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis stress response and event-related potentials sensitive to the receipt of reward-related feedback in a pre–post experimental paradigm. Neural responses were recorded while male participants completed a simple monetary-reward guessing task before and after the Montreal Imaging Stress Task. Results demonstrated that acute psychosocial stress significantly reduced the magnitude of neural responses to feedback in the reward-sensitive delta-frequency band but not the loss-sensitive theta-frequency band. In addition, a larger delta-frequency response to rewards at baseline predicted reduced overall cortisol response in the stress condition. These findings suggest, therefore, that neural reward circuitry may be associated with both risk for and resilience to stress-related psychopathology.

scholarly journals Event-Related Potentials (ERP) Indices of Motivation during the Effort Expenditure for Reward Task

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 283
Author(s):  
Julie Giustiniani ◽  
Magali Nicolier ◽  
Juliana Teti Mayer ◽  
Thibault Chabin ◽  
Caroline Masse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prediction Error ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Effort Discounting ◽  
Stimulus Preceding Negativity ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Motivational Level ◽  
Level Of Motivation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Results

Dynamic and temporal facets of the various constructs that comprise motivation remain to be explored. Here, we adapted the Effort Expenditure for Reward Task, a well-known laboratory task used to evaluate motivation, to study the event-related potentials associated with reward processing. The Stimulus Preceding Negativity (SPN) and the P300 were utilized as motivation indicators with high density electroencephalography. The SPN was found to be more negative for difficult choices compared to easy choices, suggesting a greater level of motivation, at a neurophysiological level. The insula, a structure previously associated with both effort discounting and prediction error, was concomitantly activated during the generation of the SPN. Processing a gain significantly altered the amplitude of the P300 compared to an absence of gain, particularly on centroparietal electrodes. One of the generators of the P300 was located on the vmPFC, a cerebral structure involved in the choice between two positive results and their predictions, during loss processing. Both the SPN and the P300 appear to be reliable neural markers of motivation. We postulate that the SPN represents the strength of the motivational level, while the P300 represents the impact of motivation on updating memories of the feedback.

scholarly journals Blunted Reward Processing in Remitted Melancholic Depression

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Weinberg ◽  
Stewart A. Shankman
Keyword(s):  
Major Depressive Disorder ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Melancholic Depression ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Monetary Gain

Blunted reward response appears to be a trait-like marker of vulnerability for major depressive disorder (MDD). As such, it should be present in remitted individuals; however, depression is a heterogeneous syndrome. Reward-related impairments may be more pronounced in individuals with melancholic depression. The present study examined neural responses to rewards in remitted melancholic depression (rMD; n = 29), remitted nonmelancholic depression (rNMD; n = 56), and healthy controls (HC; n = 81). Event-related potentials to monetary gain and loss were recorded during a simple gambling paradigm. Relative to both the HC and the rNMD groups, who did not differ from one another, rMD was characterized by a blunted response to rewards. Moreover, the rMD and rNMD groups did not differ in course or severity of their past illnesses, or current depressive symptoms or functioning. Results suggest that blunted response to rewards may be a viable vulnerability marker for melancholic depression.

scholarly journals Risk and resilience in an acute stress paradigm: Evidence from salivary cortisol and time-frequency analysis of the reward positivity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paige Ethridge ◽  
Nida Ali ◽  
Sarah Elizabeth Racine ◽  
Jens Pruessner ◽  
Anna Weinberg
Keyword(s):  
Acute Stress ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Risk And Resilience ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Reward Positivity ◽  
Theta Frequency ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Reward Responsivity

Both abnormal stress and reward responsivity are consistently linked to multiple forms of psychopathology; however, the nature of the associations between stress and reward sensitivity remains poorly understood. The present study examined associations between the HPA axis stress response and event-related potentials sensitive to the receipt of reward-related feedback in a pre-post experimental paradigm. Neural responses were recorded while male participants completed a simple monetary reward guessing task before and after the Montreal Imaging Stress Task. Results demonstrated that acute psychosocial stress significantly reduced the magnitude of neural responses to feedback in the reward-sensitive delta, but not the loss-sensitive theta, frequency band. In addition, a larger delta frequency response to rewards at baseline predicted reduced overall cortisol response in the stress condition. These findings suggest, therefore, that neural reward circuitry may be associated with both risk for and resilience to stress-related psychopathology.

ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF CONGRUENT AND INCONGRUENT STIMULUS IN STROOP TASK, USING EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS (ERP) IN PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSION

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (05) ◽  
pp. 1850034
Author(s):  
Yeganeh Shahsavar ◽  
Majid Ghoshuni
Keyword(s):  
Stroop Task ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Peak Time ◽  
Eeg Signals ◽  
Incongruent Stimulus ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Recording Channel ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Impact

The main goal of this event-related potentials (ERPs) study was to assess the effects of stimulations in Stroop task in brain activities of patients with different degrees of depression. Eighteen patients (10 males, with the mean age [Formula: see text]) were asked to fill out Beck’s depression questionnaire. Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals of subjects were recorded in three channels (Pz, Cz, and Fz) during Stroop test. This test entailed 360 stimulations, which included 120 congruent, 120 incongruent, and 120 neutral stimulations. To analyze the data, 18 time features in each type of stimulus were extracted from the ERP components and the optimal features were selected. The correlation between the subjects’ scores in Beck’s depression questionnaires and the extracted time features in each recording channel was calculated in order to select the best features. Total area, and peak-to-peak time window in the Cz channel in both the congruent and incongruent stimulus showed significant correlation with Beck scores, with [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], respectively. Consequently, given the correlation between time features and the subjects’ Beck scores with different degrees of depression, it can be interpreted that in case of growth in degrees of depression, stimulations involving congruent images would produce more challenging interferences for the patients compared to incongruent stimulations which can be more effective in diagnosing the level of disorder.

scholarly journals Expect the unexpected: Processing of sensory information in the anticipation of predictable and unpredictable threats

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-115
Author(s):  
Eva Koderman
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Information ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Subject Design ◽  
Unpleasant Picture ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Attentional Engagement ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Threat Of Shock

Abstract Anxiety is characterized by a sustained state of heightened vigilance due to uncertain danger, producing increased attention to a perceived threat in one's environment. To further examine this exploited the temporal resolution afforded by event-related potentials to investigate the impact of predictability of threat on early perceptual activity. We recruited 28 participants and utilized a within-subject design to examine hypervigilance in anticipation of shock, unpleasant picture and unpleasant sound during a task with unpredictable, predictable and no threat. We investigated if habituation to stimuli was present by asking the participants to rate unpleasantness and intensity of the stimuli before and after the experiment. We observed hypervigilance in the unpredictable threat of shock. Habituation was observed for the visual stimuli. The present study suggests that unpredictability enhances attentional engagement with neutral somatosensory stimuli when the threat is of the same modality, meaning we observed the presence of hypervigilance which is a characteristic of anxiety.

scholarly journals Depressive rumination is correlated with brain responses during self-related processing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tzu-Yu Hsu ◽  
Tzu-Ling Liu ◽  
Paul Z. Cheng ◽  
Hsin-Chien Lee ◽  
Timothy J. Lane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Unipolar Depression ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Late Event ◽  
Oscillatory Power ◽  
Related Aspect ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Central Symptom

AbstractBackgroundRumination, a tendency to focus on negative self-related thoughts, is a central symptom of depression. Studying the self-related aspect of such symptoms is challenging due to the need to distinguish self effects per se from the emotional content of task stimuli. This study employs an emotionally neutral self-related paradigm to investigate possible altered self processing in depression and its link to rumination.MethodsPeople with unipolar depression (MDD; n = 25) and controls (n = 25) underwent task-based EEG recording. Late event-related potentials were studied along with low frequency oscillatory power. EEG metrics were compared between groups and correlated with depressive symptoms and reported rumination.ResultsThe MDD group displayed a difference in late potentials across fronto-central electrodes between self-related and non-self-related conditions. No such difference was seen in controls. The magnitude of this difference was positively related with depressive symptoms and reported rumination. MDD also had elevated theta oscillation power at central electrodes in self-related conditions, which was not seen in controls.ConclusionsRumination appears linked to altered self-related processing in depression, independently of stimuli-related emotional confounds. This connection between self-related processing and depression may point to self-disorder being a core component of the condition.

scholarly journals Error-Monitoring is Modulated by School Pedagogy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solange Denervaud ◽  
Jean-François Knebel ◽  
Emeline Mullier ◽  
Patric Hagmann ◽  
Micah M. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Error Monitoring ◽  
Traditional Curriculum ◽  
Source Estimation ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
School Pedagogy ◽  
The Impact

Within an inherently dynamic environment, unexpected outcomes are part of daily life. Performance monitoring allows us to detect these events and adjust behavior accordingly. The necessity of such an optimal functioning has made error-monitoring a prominent topic of research over the last decades. Event-related potentials (ERPs) have differentiated between two brain components involved in error-monitoring: the error-related negativity (ERN) and error-related positivity (Pe) that are thought to reflect detection vs. emotional/motivational processing of errors, respectively. Both ERN and Pe depend on the protracted maturation of the frontal cortices and anterior cingulate through adolescence. To our knowledge, the impact of schooling pedagogy on error-monitoring and its brain mechanisms remains unknown and was the focus of the present study. Swiss schoolchildren completed a continuous recognition task while 64-channel EEG was recorded and later analyzed within an electrical neuroimaging framework. They were enrolled either in a Montessori curriculum (N=13), consisting of self-directed learning through trial-and-error activities with sensory materials, or a traditional curriculum (N=14), focused on externally driven activities mainly based on reward feedback. The two groups were controlled for age, gender, socio-economic status, parental educational style, and scores of fluid intelligence. The ERN was significantly enhanced in Montessori schoolchildren (driven by a larger response to errors), with source estimation differences localized to the cuneus and precuneus. In contrast, the Pe was enhanced in traditional schoolchildren (driven by a larger response to correct trials), with source estimation differences localized to the ventral anterior cingulate. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated that the ERN and Pe could reliably classify if a child was following a Montessori or traditional curriculum. Brain activity subserving error-monitoring is modulated differently according to school pedagogy.

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