Depression is among the most prevalent of all psychiatric disorders. It is critical, therefore, that we identify factors involved in the maintenance of depression and factors that impede recovery from this disorder. In a series of behavioral investigations we found depressed individuals to demonstrate biased attentional processing of negative stimuli only in response to prolonged stimulus exposure durations that permit elaboration of the material. Although we also found depressed individuals to exhibit impaired processing of positive stimuli, we demonstrated consistently that greater physiological reactivity and neural activation in response to positive stimuli predicts improved functioning of depressed individuals over the following year. Working to integrate these results has led us to both broaden and refine cognitive theories of depression to include a consideration of the roles of: (a) failure to disengage from negative stimuli; (b) inhibitory dysfunction affecting working memory; (c) long-term memory for emotional material; (d) responsivity to positive stimuli; and (e) patterns of neural activation in response to emotional stimuli and in the regulation of negative affect. In focusing on these constructs, we are gaining a more comprehensive understanding of precisely how cognitive and biological dysfunction can lead to emotional dysregulation and sustained negative affect, hallmark symptoms of depression. We propose a series of studies designed to test an integrative formulation of depression in which we posit different roles for the processing of negative and positive stimuli. We propose that depressed persons experience difficulty disengaging from, and inhibiting elaborative processing of, negative stimuli. We posit further that this inhibitory difficulty increases the likelihood of rumination, which in turn, leads to sustained negative affect. In addition, the attenuated processing by depressed individuals of positive stimuli impairs their ability to use positive memories or information to repair these negative affective states. Indeed, we posit that those depressed individuals who are able to engage most strongly with positive stimuli will recover from depression most quickly. Finally, we propose a series of investigations designed to elucidate the patterns of neural activation that are associated with each of these processes. Findings from these studies will represent important contributions to the continued development of an integrative psychobiological theory of depression. ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
2R01MH059259-08
Application #
7147944
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-BBBP-D (02))
Program Officer
Sanislow, Charles A
Project Start
1999-01-01
Project End
2011-12-31
Budget Start
2007-04-01
Budget End
2007-12-31
Support Year
8
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$568,707
Indirect Cost
Name
Stanford University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
009214214
City
Stanford
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94305
Davis, Elena Goetz; Foland-Ross, Lara C; Gotlib, Ian H (2018) Neural correlates of top-down regulation and generation of negative affect in major depressive disorder. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 276:1-8
Kircanski, Katharina; Thompson, Renee J; Sorenson, James et al. (2018) The everyday dynamics of rumination and worry: precipitant events and affective consequences. Cogn Emot 32:1424-1436
Waugh, Christian E; Running, Kristin E; Reynolds, Olivia C et al. (2018) People are better at maintaining positive than negative emotional states. Emotion :
Tobia, Michael J; Hayashi, Koby; Ballard, Grey et al. (2017) Dynamic functional connectivity and individual differences in emotions during social stress. Hum Brain Mapp 38:6185-6205
Wu, Haijing; Mata, Jutta; Furman, Daniella J et al. (2017) Anticipatory and consummatory pleasure and displeasure in major depressive disorder: An experience sampling study. J Abnorm Psychol 126:149-159
Kircanski, Katharina; LeMoult, Joelle; Ordaz, Sarah et al. (2017) Investigating the nature of co-occurring depression and anxiety: Comparing diagnostic and dimensional research approaches. J Affect Disord 216:123-135
Sacchet, Matthew D; Camacho, M Catalina; Livermore, Emily E et al. (2017) Accelerated aging of the putamen in patients with major depressive disorder. J Psychiatry Neurosci 42:164-171
Schmaal, L; Hibar, D P; Sämann, P G et al. (2017) Cortical abnormalities in adults and adolescents with major depression based on brain scans from 20 cohorts worldwide in the ENIGMA Major Depressive Disorder Working Group. Mol Psychiatry 22:900-909
LeMoult, Joelle; Kircanski, Katharina; Prasad, Gautam et al. (2017) Negative Self-Referential Processing Predicts the Recurrence of Major Depressive Episodes. Clin Psychol Sci 5:174-181
Hamilton, J Paul; Glover, Gary H; Bagarinao, Epifanio et al. (2016) Effects of salience-network-node neurofeedback training on affective biases in major depressive disorder. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 249:91-6

Showing the most recent 10 out of 114 publications