Striatal reactivity to reward under threat-of-shock and working memory load in adults at increased familial risk for major depression: A preliminary study
Introduction: Anhedonia, a core symptom of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), manifests as a lack or loss of motivation as reflected by decreased reward responsiveness, at both behavioral and neural (i.e., striatum) levels. Exposure to stressful life events is another important risk factor for MDD. Ho...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2020-01-01
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| Series: | NeuroImage: Clinical |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158220300309 |
| _version_ | 1818760442202292224 |
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| author | Claudie Gaillard Matthias Guillod Monique Ernst Andrea Federspiel Dominik Schoebi Romina Evelyn Recabarren Xinyi Ouyang Christoph Mueller-Pfeiffer Antje Horsch Philipp Homan Roland Wiest Gregor Hasler Chantal Martin-Soelch |
| author_facet | Claudie Gaillard Matthias Guillod Monique Ernst Andrea Federspiel Dominik Schoebi Romina Evelyn Recabarren Xinyi Ouyang Christoph Mueller-Pfeiffer Antje Horsch Philipp Homan Roland Wiest Gregor Hasler Chantal Martin-Soelch |
| author_sort | Claudie Gaillard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Anhedonia, a core symptom of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), manifests as a lack or loss of motivation as reflected by decreased reward responsiveness, at both behavioral and neural (i.e., striatum) levels. Exposure to stressful life events is another important risk factor for MDD. However, the mechanisms linking reward-deficit and stress to MDD remain poorly understood. Here, we explore whether the effects of stress exposure on reward processing might differentiate between Healthy Vulnerable adults (HVul, i.e., positive familial MDD) from Healthy Controls (HCon). Furthermore, the well-described reduction in cognitive resources in MDD might facilitate the stress-induced decrease in reward responsiveness in HVul individuals. Accordingly, this study includes a manipulation of cognitive resources to address the latter possibility. Methods: 16 HVul (12 females) and 16 gender- and age-matched HCon completed an fMRI study, during which they performed a working memory reward task. Three factors were manipulated: reward (reward, no-reward), cognitive resources (working memory at low and high load), and stress level (no-shock, unpredictable threat-of-shock). Only the reward anticipation phase was analyzed. Imaging analyses focused on striatal function. Results: Compared to HCon, HVul showed lower activation in the caudate nucleus across all conditions. The HVul group also exhibited lower stress-related activation in the nucleus accumbens, but only in the low working memory (WM) load condition. Moreover, while stress potentiated putamen reactivity to reward cues in HVul when the task was more demanding (high WM load), stress blunted putamen reactivity in both groups when no reward was at stake. Conclusion: Findings suggest that HVul might be at increased risk of developing anhedonic symptoms due to weaker encoding of reward value, higher difficulty to engage in goal-oriented behaviors and increased sensitivity to negative feedback, particularly in stressful contexts. These findings open new avenues for a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying how the complex interaction between the systems of stress and reward responsiveness contribute to the vulnerability to MDD, and how cognitive resources might modulate this interaction. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T06:58:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b91dcfce1f6041259a1aedb2b932ab42 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2213-1582 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T06:58:41Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NeuroImage: Clinical |
| spelling | doaj.art-b91dcfce1f6041259a1aedb2b932ab422022-12-21T21:17:07ZengElsevierNeuroImage: Clinical2213-15822020-01-0126Striatal reactivity to reward under threat-of-shock and working memory load in adults at increased familial risk for major depression: A preliminary studyClaudie Gaillard0Matthias Guillod1Monique Ernst2Andrea Federspiel3Dominik Schoebi4Romina Evelyn Recabarren5Xinyi Ouyang6Christoph Mueller-Pfeiffer7Antje Horsch8Philipp Homan9Roland Wiest10Gregor Hasler11Chantal Martin-Soelch12IReach Lab, Unit of Clinical and Health Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland; Section on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA; Corresponding author.IReach Lab, Unit of Clinical and Health Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, SwitzerlandSection on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USAPsychiatric Neuroimaging Unit, Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandUnit of Clinical Family Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, SwitzerlandIReach Lab, Unit of Clinical and Health Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, SwitzerlandiBM Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, SwitzerlandDepartment of Consultation-Liaison-Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment Woman-Mother-Child, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland; Institute of Higher Education and Research in Healthcare, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, SwitzerlandCenter for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, New York, New York, USADepartment of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandUnit of Psychiatry Research, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, SwitzerlandIReach Lab, Unit of Clinical and Health Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, SwitzerlandIntroduction: Anhedonia, a core symptom of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), manifests as a lack or loss of motivation as reflected by decreased reward responsiveness, at both behavioral and neural (i.e., striatum) levels. Exposure to stressful life events is another important risk factor for MDD. However, the mechanisms linking reward-deficit and stress to MDD remain poorly understood. Here, we explore whether the effects of stress exposure on reward processing might differentiate between Healthy Vulnerable adults (HVul, i.e., positive familial MDD) from Healthy Controls (HCon). Furthermore, the well-described reduction in cognitive resources in MDD might facilitate the stress-induced decrease in reward responsiveness in HVul individuals. Accordingly, this study includes a manipulation of cognitive resources to address the latter possibility. Methods: 16 HVul (12 females) and 16 gender- and age-matched HCon completed an fMRI study, during which they performed a working memory reward task. Three factors were manipulated: reward (reward, no-reward), cognitive resources (working memory at low and high load), and stress level (no-shock, unpredictable threat-of-shock). Only the reward anticipation phase was analyzed. Imaging analyses focused on striatal function. Results: Compared to HCon, HVul showed lower activation in the caudate nucleus across all conditions. The HVul group also exhibited lower stress-related activation in the nucleus accumbens, but only in the low working memory (WM) load condition. Moreover, while stress potentiated putamen reactivity to reward cues in HVul when the task was more demanding (high WM load), stress blunted putamen reactivity in both groups when no reward was at stake. Conclusion: Findings suggest that HVul might be at increased risk of developing anhedonic symptoms due to weaker encoding of reward value, higher difficulty to engage in goal-oriented behaviors and increased sensitivity to negative feedback, particularly in stressful contexts. These findings open new avenues for a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying how the complex interaction between the systems of stress and reward responsiveness contribute to the vulnerability to MDD, and how cognitive resources might modulate this interaction.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158220300309VulnerabilityMajor depressive disorderRewardStressStriatumfMRI |
| spellingShingle | Claudie Gaillard Matthias Guillod Monique Ernst Andrea Federspiel Dominik Schoebi Romina Evelyn Recabarren Xinyi Ouyang Christoph Mueller-Pfeiffer Antje Horsch Philipp Homan Roland Wiest Gregor Hasler Chantal Martin-Soelch Striatal reactivity to reward under threat-of-shock and working memory load in adults at increased familial risk for major depression: A preliminary study NeuroImage: Clinical Vulnerability Major depressive disorder Reward Stress Striatum fMRI |
| title | Striatal reactivity to reward under threat-of-shock and working memory load in adults at increased familial risk for major depression: A preliminary study |
| title_full | Striatal reactivity to reward under threat-of-shock and working memory load in adults at increased familial risk for major depression: A preliminary study |
| title_fullStr | Striatal reactivity to reward under threat-of-shock and working memory load in adults at increased familial risk for major depression: A preliminary study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Striatal reactivity to reward under threat-of-shock and working memory load in adults at increased familial risk for major depression: A preliminary study |
| title_short | Striatal reactivity to reward under threat-of-shock and working memory load in adults at increased familial risk for major depression: A preliminary study |
| title_sort | striatal reactivity to reward under threat of shock and working memory load in adults at increased familial risk for major depression a preliminary study |
| topic | Vulnerability Major depressive disorder Reward Stress Striatum fMRI |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158220300309 |
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