Attentional bias in depression: understanding mechanisms to improve training and treatment

Mennen, Anne C.; Norman, Kenneth A.; Turk‐Browne, Nicholas B.

doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.07.036

Cited by 91 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…This implies that attention biases may determine which stimuli from one’s sensory environment (e.g., angry facial expressions from your partner) as well as which mental representations (e.g., emotional memories and thoughts) are selected and how this information is subsequently processed (e.g., to understand the implications for the current situation). Existing research indicates that depression is linked to biases in both domains (for a review, see Mennen, Norman, & Turk-Browne, 2019). As noted, depression is linked to biases in attention when processing external emotional stimuli as well as biases in the contents (i.e., representations) of working memory that involve increased internal attention to negative versus positive mental representations (Joormann, 2010; Koster et al, 2011; Schweizer et al, 2019).…”

Section: Properties Of Attention and Memory Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping Dynamic Interactions Among Cognitive Biases in Depression

et al. 2020

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Depression is theorized to be caused in part by biased cognitive processing of emotional information. Yet, prior research has adopted a reductionist approach that does not characterize how biases in cognitive processes such as attention and memory work together to confer risk for this complex multifactorial disorder. Grounded in affective and cognitive science, we highlight four mechanisms to understand how attention biases, working memory difficulties, and long-term memory biases interact and contribute to depression. We review evidence for each mechanism and highlight time- and context-dependent dynamics. We outline methodological considerations and recommendations for research in this area. We conclude with directions to advance the understanding of depression risk, cognitive training interventions, and transdiagnostic properties of cognitive biases and their interactions.

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Section: Properties Of Attention and Memory Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping Dynamic Interactions Among Cognitive Biases in Depression

et al. 2020

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“…Patients with MDD show attentional biases toward cues for sadness or dysphoria 9 and have a tendency to interpret neutral or positive information negatively compared with non-depressed individuals 10,11 . Because these negative biases appear to have a key role in the pathophysiology and maintenance of depressive states, further careful investigation is required to better understand emotion processing in depressed populations 12,13 .…”

Section: Subthreshold Depression (Std) Affects People Who Experience mentioning

confidence: 99%

Impaired left amygdala resting state functional connectivity in subthreshold depression individuals

Peng

Lau

Wang

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Subthreshold depression (StD) affects people who experience clinically relevant depressive symptoms, which does not meet the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD). StD represents an ideal model for understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms of depression. Impaired emotion processing is a core feature of depression; careful investigation is required to better understand the neural correlates of emotion processing in depressed populations. In the current study, we explored whether the resting-state functional connectivity of the amygdala, a hub that taps a wide range of brain areas involved in emotion processing, is altered in individuals with StD when compared with healthy controls. Resting-state imaging data was collected from 59 individuals with StD and 59 age- and gender-matched controls. We found that the resting-state functional connectivity of the left amygdala with the cognitive control network and the left insula was significantly lower in people with StD than that in healthy controls. Such association was not observed in the right amygdala. Furthermore, functional connectivity strength between the left amygdala and the left precuneus was positively associated with depressive symptoms in individuals with StD. Our findings are in line with those reported in subjects with MDD, which may assist in further elucidating the pathophysiological mechanisms of depression, and contribute to the development of tailored treatments for individuals with StD who are at high risk of developing MDD.

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“…Attention bias has been shown in individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment [7][8][9][10] , and this bias is considered as one of the most significant cognitive features in individuals exposed to early trauma 5,6 . Attention bias has also been observed in a variety of psychiatric conditions, including anxiety 11 , depression 12 , and PTSD 13 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Childhood maltreatment history and attention bias variability in healthy adult women: role of inflammation and the BDNF Val66Met genotype

et al. 2021

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Childhood maltreatment has been associated with greater attention bias to emotional information, but the findings are controversial. Recently, a novel index of attention bias, i.e., attention bias variability (ABV), has been developed to better capture trauma-related attentional dysfunction. However, ABV in relation to childhood trauma has not been studied. Here, we examined the association of childhood maltreatment history with attention bias/ABV in 128 healthy adult women. Different types of childhood maltreatment were assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Attention bias/ABV was measured by the dot-probe task. Possible mechanisms whereby childhood maltreatment affects attention bias/ABV were also explored, focusing on blood proinflammatory markers and the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism. We observed a significant positive correlation between childhood emotional abuse and ABV (P = 0.002). Serum high-sensitivity tumor necrosis factor-α levels were significantly positively correlated with ABV (P < 0.001), but not with childhood maltreatment. Jonckheere–Terpstra trend test showed a significant tendency toward greater ABV with increasing numbers of the BDNF Met alleles (P = 0.021). A two-way analysis of variance further revealed that the genotype-by-emotional abuse interaction for ABV was significant (P = 0.022); individuals with the Val/Met and Met/Met genotypes exhibited even greater ABV when childhood emotional abuse was present. These results indicate that childhood emotional abuse can have a long-term negative impact on emotional attention control. Increased inflammation may be involved in the mechanism of ABV, possibly independently of childhood maltreatment. The BDNF Met allele may dose-dependently increase ABV by interacting with childhood emotional abuse.

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Attentional bias in depression: understanding mechanisms to improve training and treatment

Cited by 91 publications

References 51 publications

Mapping Dynamic Interactions Among Cognitive Biases in Depression

Mapping Dynamic Interactions Among Cognitive Biases in Depression

Impaired left amygdala resting state functional connectivity in subthreshold depression individuals

Childhood maltreatment history and attention bias variability in healthy adult women: role of inflammation and the BDNF Val66Met genotype

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