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Interaction between a history of depression and rumination on neural response to emotional faces

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2011

E. J. Thomas ,
R. Elliott ,
S. McKie ,
D. Arnone ,
D. Downey ,
G. Juhasz ,
J. F. W. Deakin  and
I. M. Anderson
E. J. Thomas*
Affiliation:
Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, UK
R. Elliott
Affiliation:
Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, UK
S. McKie
Affiliation:
Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, UK
D. Arnone
Affiliation:
Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, UK
D. Downey
Affiliation:
Imaging Science and Biomedical Engineering Department, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, UK
G. Juhasz
Affiliation:
Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, UK
J. F. W. Deakin
Affiliation:
Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, UK
I. M. Anderson
Affiliation:
Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr E. J. Thomas, Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, G.704 Stopford Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

Both past depressive episodes and the personality trait of depressive rumination are strong risk factors for future depression. Depression is associated with abnormal emotional processing, which may be a neurobiological marker for vulnerability to depression. A consistent picture has yet to emerge as to how a history of depression and the tendency to ruminate influence emotional processing. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between rumination, past depression and neural responses when processing face emotions.

Method

The Ruminative Responses Scale (RRS) was completed by 30 remitted depressives and 37 controls who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning while viewing happy, sad, fearful and neutral faces.

Results

The remitted depressives showed overall reductions in neural responses to negative emotions relative to the controls. However, in the remitted depressives, but not the controls, RRS scores were correlated with increased neural responses to negative emotions and decreased responses to happiness in limbic regions.

Conclusions

Automatic emotion processing biases and rumination seem to be correlated to aspects of vulnerability to depression. However, remission from depression may be maintained by a general suppression of limbic responsiveness to negative emotion.

Keywords

Amygdalacognitive biasesemotional facial expressionshippocampusrecovered depressedrumination
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 41 , Issue 9 , September 2011 , pp. 1845 - 1855
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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