Where's the Fun in That? Broadening the Focus on Reward Function in Depression

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.05.001

Biological Psychiatry

Volume 66, Issue 3, 1 August 2009, Pages 199-200

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.05.001 Get rights and content

Section snippets

A Developmental Perspective

Developmental frameworks may be especially valuable to understanding the role of reward processing in depression. Adults suffering from depression have often experienced an onset of the disorder during adolescence. As such, understanding the role of reward dysfunction in the onset and course of depression—and the potentially associated fluctuations in reward functioning in depression at different points in the life span—is likely to be critical to elucidating the role of reward-related

Selecting Reward Stimuli

We have much to learn about which types of rewards elicit reduced responding in depression. The context of reward can be a critical determinant of the response, as demonstrated by behavioral economics findings that factors such as delay and effort influence the strength of reward responding. Reward paradigms used in depression research tend not to manipulate such factors, and although studies have focused on money, pleasant pictures, or words as rewarding stimuli, little work has addressed the

Reward Responding and Treatment

In addition to the which question of reward dysfunction in depression—that is, which types of reward elicit differences between depressed and healthy people—we need to understand more about the how much question. How much do individual differences in degree of reward responding distinguish subgroups with depression or predict differential treatment response? Variability in the capacity to respond to reward, hinted at by variability in reward-related brain function, behavior, and subjective

References (11)

E.J. Nestler et al.
The mesolimbic dopamine reward circuit in depression
Biol Psychiatry
(2006)
E.E. Forbes et al.
Alterations in reward-related decision making in boys with recent and future depression
Biol Psychiatry
(2007)
J.L. Nandrino et al.
Emotional information processing in first and recurrent major depressive episodes
J Psychiatr Res
(2004)
C.G. Davey et al.
The emergence of depression in adolescence: Development of the prefrontal cortex and the representation of reward
Neurosci Biobehav Rev
(2008)
J.M. O'Donnell et al.
Antidepressant effects assessed using behavior maintained under a differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate (DRL) operant schedule
Neurosci Biobehav Rev
(2005)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (75)

From the Clinic to Schools: Iterative Development of a Depression Prevention Program for Adolescents With ADHD Within an Urban School System
2023, Cognitive and Behavioral Practice
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent disorder, particularly among Black youth and youth in urban settings. In addition to well-documented academic and social dysfunction, ADHD is associated with increased risk for depression and suicide. However, there is a stark mismatch between services available and need among adolescents with ADHD, especially those from low-income backgrounds. Implementation of services in schools is one promising way to overcome barriers to care, decrease stigma associated with mental health care, and offer the ability to practice mental health skills in a more natural environment. As such, the current study aims to (a) describe the iterative development of a school-based depression prevention program (i.e., Behaviorally Enhancing Adolescents’ Mood in Schools [BEAMS]) for adolescents with ADHD in an underresourced, urban school district using stakeholder feedback; and (b) evaluate the preliminary effectiveness of an open trial of BEAMS. Raw data for all participants (n = 6; 83% Black, 17% biracial; 83% male) with indications for significant Reliable Change Indices are presented in addition to two case vignettes to illustrate treatment components and exemplify participant response. Pre- and posttreatment focus group data are presented to depict the development of the BEAMS program, lessons learned, and modifications made to BEAMS, in preparation for a larger randomized trial. Future directions are discussed.
Disentangling emotional processing in dysphoria: An ERP and cardiac deceleration study
2021, Behaviour Research and Therapy
The present study aimed to investigate emotional processing in dysphoria. To this end, the amplitude of the Late Positive Potential (LPP) and cardiac deceleration were assessed during the passive viewing of affective (pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant) pictures in 26 individuals with dysphoria and in 25 non-depressed controls. The group with dysphoria revealed a smaller LPP amplitude than the group without dysphoria in response to pleasant and neutral, but not unpleasant, stimuli at centro-parieto-occipital sites. Interestingly, whereas both groups showed cardiac deceleration when viewing pleasant compared to neutral pictures (3–6 s time window), only individuals with dysphoria showed a prolonged cardiac deceleration in response to unpleasant stimuli as compared with neutral ones. This study suggests that dysphoria is characterized by reduced motivated attentional allocation to positive information and by sustained intake of unpleasant information. Overall, the present findings provide novel insights into the characterization of valence-specific attentional processes in dysphoria as potential vulnerability factors for clinically significant depression.
New directions in behavioral activation: Using findings from basic science and translational neuroscience to inform the exploration of potential mechanisms of change
2020, Clinical Psychology Review
Interest in behavioral activation treatments for depression has increased over the past two decades. Behavioral activation treatments have been shown to be effective in treating depression across a variety of populations and settings. However, little is known about the mechanisms of change that may bring about symptom improvement in behavioral activation treatments. Recent developments in the theoretical and empirical literature on behavioral activation treatments have coincided with advances in basic science and translational neuroscience regarding the mechanisms underlying individual differences in responsiveness to reward. Attenuated reward responsiveness has been associated with depression and related clinical outcomes at the self-report, behavioral, and neural levels of analysis. Given that behavioral activation treatments are focused on increasing individuals' contact and engagement with sustainable sources of reward in their environment, it is plausible that behavioral activation treatments bring about improvements in depression symptoms by targeting (low) reward responsiveness directly. This paper integrates findings from the clinical research literature on behavioral activation treatments with insights drawn from basic science and translational neuroscience in order to propose hypotheses about potential mechanisms of change in behavioral activation. Conceptual issues and recommendations for future research on behavioral activation treatments are discussed.
The role of avoidance motivation in the relationship between reward sensitivity and depression symptoms in adolescents: An ERP study
2019, Psychiatry Research
Blunted neural responses to reward in an EEG paradigm (RewP) are associated with vulnerability to depression, but the pathways linking this biomarker to depressive symptoms are unclear. We examined whether the relationship between reward response (RewP mean amplitude and latency) and depression was in part explained by approach-motivated behaviors in adolescents with varying levels of depression. EEG was collected during a game rigged to provide win/loss trials. Longer RewP latency was associated with depression symptoms only when scores on a measure of avoidance motivation were included. These results suggest that treatments targeting avoidance may decrease vulnerability to depressive episodes.
Linking anhedonia symptoms with behavioural and neural reward responses in adolescent depression
2018, Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences
Adolescence is a period of change that crucially increases vulnerability to depression. Studies report blunted neural responses to reward that relate to positive affect and depression symptoms in adolescents. However how these results relate to the symptom of anhedonia in adolescents is not entirely clear.
Anhedonia is not a unitary construct, but is described as having different processes (e.g. wanting vs. liking) each underpinned by different neurobiological pathways. Current studies report inconsistencies in findings when trying to relate reward processing at the behavioural and neural level with symptoms. One reason for this is the lack of specificity of clinical, behavioural and neural tasks for measuring reward in depression.
Links between the experience of anhedonia in adolescent depression and the behavioural and neural measures of reward could be improved with more detailed questionnaires, more detailed measurements of the components of reward for, for exmaple, decreased motivation/effort and more ecologically valid tasks relevant to adolescents, in the MRI scanner.
Current perspectives on incentive salience and applications to clinical disorders
2018, Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences
Affective neuroscience research has revealed that reward contains separable components of ‘liking’, ‘wanting’, and learning. Here we focus on current ‘liking’ and ‘wanting’ findings and applications to clinical disorders. ‘Liking’ is the hedonic impact derived from a pleasant experience, and is amplified by opioid and related signals in discrete sites located in limbic-related brain areas. ‘Wanting’ refers to incentive salience, a motivation process for reward, and is mediated by larger systems involving mesocorticolimbic dopamine. Deficits in incentive salience may contribute to avolitional features of depression and related disorders, whereas deficits in hedonic impact may produce true anhedonia. Excesses in incentive salience, on the other hand, can lead to addiction, especially when narrowly focused on a particular target. Finally, a fearful form of motivational salience may even contribute to some paranoia symptoms of schizophrenia and related disorders.

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

CommentaryWhere's the Fun in That? Broadening the Focus on Reward Function in Depression

Section snippets

A Developmental Perspective

Selecting Reward Stimuli

Reward Responding and Treatment

Biol Psychiatry

Biol Psychiatry

J Psychiatr Res

Neurosci Biobehav Rev

Neurosci Biobehav Rev

Commentary
Where's the Fun in That? Broadening the Focus on Reward Function in Depression