TY  - JOUR
T1  - NEural processing of reward and loss in girls at risk for major depression
AU  - Gotlib IH, Hamilton J, Cooney RE, Singh MK, Henry ML, Joormann J
Y1  - 2010/04/01
N1  - 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.13
JO  - Archives of General Psychiatry
SP  - 380
EP  - 387
VL  - 67
IS  - 4
N2  - Context 
    Deficits in reward processing and their neural correlates have been associated with major depression. However, it is unclear if these deficits precede the onset of depression or are a consequence of this disorder.Objective 
    To determine whether anomalous neural processing of reward characterizes children at familial risk for depression in the absence of a personal history of diagnosable disorder.Design 
    Comparison of neural activity among children at low and high risk for depression as they process reward and loss.Setting 
    University functional magnetic resonance imaging facility.Participants 
    Thirteen 10- to 14-year-old never-disordered daughters of mothers with recurrent depression (“high risk”) and 13 age-matched never-disordered daughters with no family history of depression (“low risk”).Main Outcome Measure 
    Neural activity, as measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging, in key reward and attention neural circuitry during anticipation and receipt of reward and loss.Results 
    While anticipating gains, high-risk participants showed less activation than did their low-risk counterparts in the putamen and left insula but showed greater activation in the right insula. When receiving punishment, high-risk participants showed greater activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus than did low-risk participants, who showed greater activation in the caudate and putamen.Conclusions 
    Familial risk for depression affects neural mechanisms underlying the processing of reward and loss; young girls at risk for depression exhibit anomalies in the processing of reward and loss before the onset of depressive symptoms. Longitudinal studies are needed to examine whether these characteristics predict the subsequent onset of depression.
SN  - 0003-990X
M3  - doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.13
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.13
ER  -