Neural deficits in anticipatory and consummatory reward processing are uniquely associated with current depressive symptoms during adolescence

Abstract

Deficits within the consummatory phase of reward processing are associated with increased depression symptoms and risk; however, few studies have also examined other aspects of reward processing in relation to depression. In the current study, a community sample of 121 adolescents (Mage = 13.1, Min = 11.14; Max = 15.12; 54% male) completed self‐report questionnaires to assess depressive symptoms and the monetary incentive delay (MID) task while EEG was recorded. Results indicated that a reduced cue‐P300 as well as a reduced reward positivity (RewP) and feedback negativity (FN) to gain and loss feedback, respectively, were associated with increased depressive symptoms; on the other hand, SPN and feedback P300 were unrelated to depressive symptoms. An exploratory multiple regression analysis revealed that a reduced money cue‐P300, a reduced RewP, and a reduced (i.e., less negative) FN, all explained unique variance in depressive symptoms. The current study demonstrates that reduced cue‐P300, RewP, and FN amplitudes may reflect distinct deficits in reward processing among adolescents with increased depressive symptoms. Notably, this study is one of the first to leverage the MID task in adolescents in relation to depressive symptoms, allowing for a more in‐depth view of the individual differences in reward processing among adolescents with increased depressive symptomatology.

Feedback negativity and feedback‐related P3 in individuals at risk for depression: Comparing surface potentials and current source densities

“…For ERP‐based fb‐P3 only, these salience‐related group effects were sufficient to sustain an overall risk main effect. Condition effects did not differ between individuals with and without a history of MDD or anxiety disorder, which is in agreement with some prior studies (e.g., Bowyer et al, 2022; Santopetro et al, 2021; Thoma et al, 2015; Thompson et al, 2023) but contrary to others (e.g., Ait Oumeziane et al, 2019; Chang et al, 2020; White et al, 2021; Zhang et al, 2020). Accordingly, the present findings do not support hypothesized impairments in processing reward salience in individuals at high risk or without a lifetime history of MDD.…”

“…While indeed several of the studies that reported reduced FN in depression or depressing risk used a guessing task (e.g., Brush et al, 2018;Foti et al, 2014;Liu et al, 2014), not all did (Glazer et al, 2018;Thoma et al, 2015). Moreover, two recent studies in young adolescents add to this mixed evidence: one found reduced FN during the MID task to be associated with increased depressive symptoms (Thompson et al, 2023), whereas the other used the doors task and found no FN differences between individuals with and without a history of preschool-onset MDD task (Santopetro et al, 2023).…”