Neural substrates of trait ruminations in depression.

Abstract

Rumination in depression is a risk factor for longer, more intense, and harder-to-treat depressions. But there appear to be multiple types of depressive rumination – whether they all share these vulnerability mechanisms, and thus would benefit from the same types of clinical attention is unclear. In the current study, we examined neural correlates of empirically-derived dimensions of trait rumination in 35 depressed participants. These individuals and 29 never-depressed controls completed 17 self-report measures of rumination and an alternating emotion-processing/executive-control task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) assessment. We examined associations of regions of interest—the amygdala and other cortical regions subserving a potential role in deficient cognitive control and elaborative emotion-processing—with trait rumination. Rumination of all types was generally associated with increased sustained amygdala reactivity. When controlling for amygdala reactivity, distinct activity patterns in hippocampus were also associated with specific dimensions of rumination. We discuss the possibly utility of targeting more basic biological substrates of emotional reactivity in depressed patients who frequently ruminate.

Baseline brain perfusion and brain structure in patients with major depression: a multimodal magnetic resonance imaging study

“…Recently, in patients with MDD reciprocal associations between neural activity and rumination have been reported for hippocampal, inferior and superior frontal and anterior cingulate regions. [74][75][76][77] Contrasting our findings with the extant literature, it is noteworthy that we observed very limited overlap between regions exhibiting abnormal rCBF in patients and brain regions that were found to be associated with rumination in patients with MDD. Yet given that we didn't explicitly assess these symptoms, definitive conclusions cannot be drawn from the present findings.…”

Thinking About Rumination: The Scholarly Contributions and Intellectual Legacy of Susan Nolen-Hoeksema

“…Other researchers have continued and extended these lines of inquiry. For example, a recent functional magnetic resonance imaging study of the neural correlates of rumination found that sustained amygdala reactivity is associated with all types of rumination, and specific subtypes of rumination are associated with distinct activity patterns in the hippocampus (Mandell et al 2014). Thus, in addition to cognitive and behavior therapy, a pharmacological or neurobehavioral intervention might be effective in alleviating rumination by targeting amygdala reactivity.…”

Neural substrates of rumination tendency in non-depressed individuals

“…On the other hand, the dominance of ruminations in the content of attention could explain the difficulties in allocating or shifting cognitive resources to other thoughts (Philippot & Brutoux, 2008). Furthermore, a state of rumination might potentially result from deficient cognitive control normally allowing the inhibition of irrelevant thoughts and/or from increased generation of intrusive material through spontaneous associations and elaborative emotional processing (Mandell, Siegle, Shutt, Feldmiller, & Thase, 2014;Piguet et al, 2010). Hence, the functional relationships of rumination tendency with attention control remain to be better understood (for a recent review, see Whitmer & Gotlib, 2013).…”

“…More recently, Freton et al (2013) showed that lower brooding scores measured by the RRS (emphasizing the maladaptive component of self-reflection) correlated with increased activation of the posterior midline structures during analytical compared to experiential self-focus, which may account for impaired cognitive control on self-focus in high brooders. Finally, in depressed patients, using a factor structure derived from multiple questionnaires and a paradigm alternating cognitive and emotional tasks in depressed patients, Mandell et al (2014) showed that trait rumination correlated not only with amygdala but also hippocampus activity. Other regions in PCC, MPFC, dorsolateral PFC, and anterior insula also exhibited differential patterns as a function of ruminations traits.…”