Summary: A new study reveals that a reduced neural response to rewards in teens predicts the first onset of depression, but not anxiety or suicidality. Researchers used EEG scans to measure “reward positivity” in at-risk adolescents and found that those with blunted responses were more likely to develop depression.
This neural marker is independent of pre-existing symptoms, age, or sex, highlighting its unique role in depression vulnerability. Identifying such early brain-based indicators could help develop preventative strategies to reduce lifelong mental health risks.
Key Facts:
- Reward Response: Teens with blunted neural responses to rewards are at higher risk for first-time depression.
- Specific Risk Marker: The reduced reward positivity does not predict anxiety or suicidal thoughts.
- Low-Cost Screening: EEG offers an accessible and simple method to identify at-risk teens.
Source: Elsevier
Novel research shows that a reduced neural response to receiving rewards in teens predicts the first onset of depression, but not anxiety or suicidality. This is independent of pre-existing depressive or anxiety symptoms, as well as age or sex, which are already strong risk factors for depression.
The study in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, published by Elsevier, is a step toward using brain science to understand and assess mental health risks.
Mood and anxiety disorders among youth are a growing concern and have long-lasting consequences. Very few studies have identified premorbid neural markers that indicate the risk of the onset of these disorders in a teen’s life.
This is particularly important given that 50% of children who experience one episode of depression or anxiety will go on to experience a second. Among those who have had two episodes, 80% will go on to have a third or more.
Investigators at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, followed a group of 145 teens (64.8% female) with a family history of depressive or anxiety disorders, which put them at very high risk for developing these disorders themselves.
Participating families were part of the Calgary Biopsychosocial Risk for Adolescent Internalizing Disorders (CBRAID) study, a longitudinal research program examining premorbid risk factors for first-lifetime onsets of mood and anxiety disorders in adolescence.
Researchers conducted nine- and 18-month follow-ups to assess whether participants had developed a major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, or suicidal ideation. They found that a blunted response to reward feedback (also known as reward positivity) while playing a game during an EEG scan in which teens were told they either won or lost predicted the first onset of depression, but not anxiety or suicidality.
This may suggest that teens who feel less pleasure or satisfaction when receiving rewards are particularly vulnerable to developing depression for the first time in their life.
First author Gia-Huy L. Hoang, second-year master’s student in neuroscience, University of Calgary, adds, “Evidence shows that kids with depressive or anxiety disorders, which often occur at the same time, generally exhibit a blunted response to rewards.
“Our research suggests that the brain’s response to rewards may be a marker that specifically indicates a risk for depression, rather than for anxiety or suicidality, in teens.
“Using EEG to measure how the brain responds to rewards is a simple and low-cost method to measure this response.”
Editor-in-Chief of Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging Cameron S. Carter, MD, University of California Irvine, comments, “Depression, anxiety, and suicidality are strongly linked, and are highly disabling and common problems that typically begin during adolescence. Reward processing is closely linked to depression and anxiety.
“However, little is known about if a blunted response to rewards precedes these conditions and confers risk for depression, anxiety, or suicidality.
“Research into specific biomarkers that can identify the risk of first-lifetime onsets of these conditions is highly important to understand and assess mental health risks.”
Senior investigator Daniel C. Kopala-Sibley, PhD, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Alberta Children Hospital Research Institute, The Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research & Education, and Department of Psychiatry, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, concludes, “Our findings are important as we work towards understanding the brain bases of why teens become depressed for the first time in their lives, which may ultimately further our ability to identify those at risk and intervene with them to prevent the onset of these disorders.”
About this depression and neurodevelopment research news
Author: Eileen Leahy
Source: Elsevier
Contact: Eileen Leahy – Elsevier
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“The Reward Positivity as a Predictor of First Lifetime Onsets of Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidal Ideation in High-Risk Adolescents” by Daniel C. Kopala-Sibley et al. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
Abstract
The Reward Positivity as a Predictor of First Lifetime Onsets of Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidal Ideation in High-Risk Adolescents
Background
Reduced reward Positivity (RewP), an electroencephalography (EEG) marker elicited by feedback indicating reward, has been associated with an increased risk for depression in adolescence. However, the predictive capability of RewP in predicting the first-lifetime onset of depressive disorders, as opposed to anxiety and suicidal ideation in high-risk populations, has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, the authors examine if RewP predicts the first-lifetime onset of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation over 18 months in familial high-risk adolescents.
Methods
The sample included 145 adolescents (64.8% male), aged 11–17 years, who had at least one parent with a history of mood and anxiety disorders and completed baseline and at least one follow-up measurement. At baseline, RewP was measured using a simple gambling task, their current internalizing symptoms were assessed using self-report questionnaires, and the youth’s psychiatric diagnoses were evaluated with diagnostic interviews. The same interview was administered to the adolescents again at 9 months and 18 months later.
Results
Logistic regression models showed that higher RewP scores significantly predicted a lower likelihood of developing a first onset of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) over 18 months, even after controlling for sex, age, and baseline internalizing symptoms. In contrast, RewP did not significantly predict the first onset of anxiety disorders or suicidal ideation.
Conclusions
Reduced RewP precedes the first onset of depression in high-risk adolescents, highlighting RewP’s predictive capability in predicting depression risk in predisposed populations. Blunted RewP could complement self-reported symptoms in screening and prevention.
