Work

Comorbid anxiety moderates the relationship between depression history and prefrontal EEG asymmetry

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: The internalizing spectrum of psychiatric disorders-depression and anxiety-are common, highly comorbid, and challenging to treat. Individuals with childhood onset depression have a particularly poor prognosis. There is compelling evidence that individuals with depression display reduced resting-state EEG activity at sensors overlying the left prefrontal cortex, even during periods of remission, but it remains unknown whether this asymmetry is evident among individuals with a comorbid anxiety disorder. Here, we demonstrate that women with a history of childhood onset depression and no anxiety disorder (n = 37) show reduced left lateral frontal activity compared to psychiatrically healthy controls (n = 69). In contrast, women with a history of childhood onset depression and pathological levels of anxious apprehension (n = 18)-as indexed by a current generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, or separation anxiety disorder diagnosis-were statistically indistinguishable from healthy controls. Collectively, these observations suggest that anxious apprehension can mask the relationship between prefrontal EEG asymmetry and depression. These findings have implications for understanding (a) prefrontal EEG asymmetry as a neurophysiological marker of depression, (b) the comorbidity of depression and anxiety, and (c) failures to replicate the relationship between prefrontal EEG asymmetry and depression. More broadly, they set the stage for developing refined interventions for internalizing psychopathology.

Source: Psychophysiology

DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12953

Authors: Robin Nusslock, Alexander J. Shackman, Brenton W. McMenamin, Lawrence L. Greischar, Richard J. Davidson, Maria Kovacs

Institutions: Northwestern University, University of Maryland, College Park, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Pittsburgh

Language: English

Topic: Hemispheric Asymmetry in Neuroscience

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development