Antidepressant treatment normalizes hypoactivity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during emotional interference processing in major depression

• Published in: Journal of affective disorders Vol. 112; no. 1; pp. 206 - 211
• Main Authors: Fales, Christina L, Barch, Deanna M, Rundle, Melissa M, Mintun, Mark A, Mathews, Jose, Snyder, Abraham Z, Sheline, Yvette I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier B.V 01.01.2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Amygdala - drug effects; Amygdala - physiopathology; Antidepressant drugs; Antidepressive Agents - pharmacology; Antidepressive Agents - therapeutic use; Attention - drug effects; Attention - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition - drug effects; Cognition - physiology; Cognitive control; Cognitive tasks; Control Groups; Cortex; Depression; Depressive Disorder, Major - diagnosis; Depressive Disorder, Major - drug therapy; Depressive Disorder, Major - physiopathology; Emotional circuitry; Emotions - drug effects; Emotions - physiology; Fear - psychology; Female; Functional Laterality - drug effects; Functional Laterality - physiology; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Humans; Interference; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - statistics & numerical data; Major depression; Male; Medical sciences; Mood disorders; Neural Pathways - drug effects; Neural Pathways - physiopathology; Neuropharmacology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Prefrontal Cortex - drug effects; Prefrontal Cortex - physiopathology; Psychiatry; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease); Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; Recruitment, Neurophysiological - drug effects; Recruitment, Neurophysiological - physiology; Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors - pharmacology; Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Task Performance and Analysis; Treatment; Treatment Outcome; Treatment; Major depression; Emotional circuitry; Cognitive control; Mood disorder; Affect affectivity; Psychotropic; Central nervous system; Interference; Depression; Cognition; Emotion emotionality; Encephalon; Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Antidepressant agent
• ISSN: 0165-0327; 1573-2517
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2008.04.027

Abstract Background Major depression (MDD) is characterized by altered emotion processing and deficits in cognitive control. In cognitive interference tasks, patients with MDD have shown excessive amygdala activity and under-recruitment of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of antidepressant treatment on anomalous neural activity in cognitive-control and emotion-processing circuitry. Methods Functional magnetic resonance imaging was conducted on depressed patients ( n = 23) (both before and after antidepressant treatment) compared with matched controls ( n = 18) while they performed a cognitive task involving attended and unattended fear-related stimuli. Results After eight weeks of SSRI antidepressant treatment, patients with depression showed significantly increased DLPFC activity to unattended fear-related stimuli and no longer differed from controls in either DLPFC or amygdala activity. Conclusions These results suggest that antidepressant treatment increases DLPFC under-activity during cognitive tasks that include emotional interference. Limitations The sample was fairly homogeneous and this may limit generalizability.