Reduced left subgenual anterior cingulate cortical activity during withdrawal-related emotions in melancholic depressed female patients

Abstract

Background: Research regarding the neurocircuitry in mood disorders suggests an important role for affective information processing of the subgenual part of the anterior cingulate cortex (Cg25: Brodmann area 25).Objective: In this study, we focused on Cg25 neuronal responses in depressed females using a paradigm in which emotions are elicited without explicit cognitive control, relying on the salient nature of the mood inducing stimuli eliciting approach-related emotions (like happiness) or withdrawal-related emotions (like disgust).Methods: Twelve treatment-resistant melancholic depressed women and 12 healthy female control subjects were asked to passively view blocks of emotionally valenced baby faces while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).Results: Compared to the healthy females, the depressed patients displayed significantly higher bilateral Cg25 neuronal activities in both emotional conditions. In melancholically depressed women, we found significantly less left-sided than right-sided Cg25 neuronal activity during the withdrawal-related emotions, while right-sided Cg25 activity was comparable for both emotional responses.

Sex differences in the response to emotional distraction: an event-related fMRI investigation

“…This region of the ACC is an area closely tied to the autonomic nervous system, which has been linked to the experience of negative emotion in both healthy and clinical samples (Baeken et al, 2010;Ball et al, 2012;Gotlib et al, 2005;Mobbs et al, 2009). Sex-related differences in sgACC have been previously reported, with increased activation in women possibly linked to enhanced emotional reactivity or stronger autonomic reactions to emotional stimuli (Wager, Phan, Liberzon, & Taylor, 2003).…”

Neurostimulation as an intervention for treatment resistant depression: From research on mechanisms towards targeted neurocognitive strategies

“…The association of the sgACC with acute sadness (Mayberg et al, 1999;Smith et al, 2011), as well as with TRD (Ressler & Mayberg, 2007) is indicative of its crucial role in emotional reactivity. Consistent with this idea, in a study in which TRD female patients and healthy controls were asked to passively view blocks of negative versus positive valenced baby faces while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the depressed patients displayed higher bilateral sgACC activities in both emotional conditions as compared to the controls (Baeken et al, 2010).…”

“…The connectivity network view, that a functional balance between ventral (ventral ACC) and dorsal compartments in the brain (dorsal ACC, DLPFC) may be necessary for maintaining homeostatic control over emotional information, has been confirmed by neuroimaging studies (for an overview, see Ochsner & Gross, 2005). Importantly, the subgenual cingulate region, which has been related to TRD (Mayberg, 2006;Baeken et al, 2010), has direct bidirectional connections to the amygdala and can be implicated in inhibitory control over the amygdala (Hamani et al, 2011). Depressed patients who are treatment resistant to CBT or pharmacotherapy exhibit pretreatment hypermetabolism at the interface of the pregenual and subgenual (sg)ACC (Konarski et al, 2009).…”

Systematic review of the neural basis of social cognition in patients with mood disorders

“…Actively depressed patients also show increased neural responses to positive and negative facial expressions in the subgenual portion of the anterior cingulate cortex, a region involved in the physiologic response of emotional processing. 45,46,52,63 Increased activity in the subgenual cingulate cortex suggests that individuals with MDD show stronger autonomic emotional responses than controls. 63 By contrast, reduced amygdala activation in response to positive stimuli has been demonstrated across a small number of studies.…”

“…45,46,52,63 Increased activity in the subgenual cingulate cortex suggests that individuals with MDD show stronger autonomic emotional responses than controls. 63 By contrast, reduced amygdala activation in response to positive stimuli has been demonstrated across a small number of studies. 71,99 Suslow and colleagues 71 suggest that amygdala hyperactivity to negative stimuli in patients with MDD is associated with negative biases during automatic stages of affective processing, 49 including facial affect recognition.…”