背景:重度抑郁症(MDD)的特征是强烈的情绪失调。驱动抑郁症负面影响的机制可能是无意识水平上存在的快速过程。
方法:使用同时进行的EEG-fMRI测量进行了启动任务,其中涉及面部表情的表现(快乐,悲伤,中性),以检查MDD中偏向无意识情绪处理的神经生理途径。在目标情绪之前启动会产生无意识的(16.7ms的引物)和有意识的(150ms的引物)试验。招募了N=126的大样本,包含健康对照(HC;n=66;37名妇女)和MDD(n=60;31名妇女)。
结果:HC在快乐中表现出更短的反应时间,但与MDD相比,在悲伤或中立的试验中没有。与有意识的引物呈现相比,在无意识的试验中,N170振幅较低。N170振幅与皮质相关(右梭状回(FFG),右颞中回,右颞下回,左辅助马达区域,右额中回)和皮质下脑区域(右杏仁核)。当有意识地呈现刺激时,N170的强度与大脑活动的相关性增加。呈现的情绪不影响N170值与大脑活动的相关性。
结论:我们的研究结果表明,MDD可能在行为和神经生理水平上表现出偏倚的情绪调节能力。面部敏感事件相关电位与面部识别(FFG)和情绪处理(杏仁核)相关区域的大脑活动增强有关。这些发现在MDD和HC中都很明显,MDD中效果大小较低,表明情绪识别和处理能力降低。
BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by strong emotional dysregulation. Mechanisms driving the negative affect in depression may be fast processes existing on an unconscious level.
METHODS: A priming task was conducted using simultaneous EEG-fMRI measurement involving presentation of facial expressions (happy, sad, neutral) to examine the neurophysiological pathway of biased unconscious emotion processing in MDD. Priming prior to a target emotion created unconscious (16.7 ms primer) and conscious (150 ms primer) trials. A large sample of N = 126 was recruited, containing healthy controls (HC; n = 66; 37 women) and MDD (n = 60; 31 women).
RESULTS: HC showed a shorter reaction time in happy, but not in sad or neutral trials compared to MDD. N170 amplitudes were lower in trials with unconscious compared to conscious primer presentation. N170 amplitudes correlated with cortical (right fusiform gyrus (FFG), right middle temporal gyrus, right inferior temporal gyrus, left supplementary motor area, right middle frontal gyrus) and subcortical brain regions (right amygdala). The strength of N170 and brain activity correlation increased when the stimulus was consciously presented. Presented emotions did not affect the correlation of N170 values and brain activity.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that MDD may exhibit biased emotion regulation abilities at a behavioral and neurophysiological level. Face-sensitive event-related potentials demonstrate a correlation with heightened brain activity in regions associated with both face recognition (FFG) and emotion processing (amygdala). These findings are evident in both MDD and HC, with lower effect sizes in MDD indicating reduced emotion recognition and processing abilities.