The role of altered decision dynamics and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to amygdala causal circuitry in the aberrant efficacy of emotion suppression in subthreshold depression.
Individuals with subthreshold depression (StD), a potentially preclinical stage of major depression, may habitually employ maladaptive expression suppression strategies in emotion regulation. However, the effect of emotional suppression (EES) and underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear.
Data came from two samples (Sample 1: 55 StD, 60 healthy controls (HC); Sample 2: 23 StD, 20 HC). Both samples completed expression suppression tasks. Using drift diffusion modeling, we decomposed performance on the emotional assessment process into separate processing components, particularly the speed of information update (drift rate), to examine how depression and emotional suppression affect decision-making. To further reveal the potential mechanism, we conducted fMRI scanning in Sample 2 and characterized latent neurocircuit driving emotion suppression and drift rate using dynamic causal modeling (DCM).
The EES negatively correlated with drift rate. StD showed reduced efficacy of EES and faster drift rates of negative preference. Greater activation was observed in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and amygdala in StD during suppression. DCM analysis revealed that inefficient EES might be explained by the stronger connection from the right dlPFC to the right amygdala, while the faster drift rate might be attributed to a stronger connection from the left amygdala to the right dlPFC.
Our study uncovered novel latent behavioral and neurocircuit mechanisms of early risk for depression. Ineffective emotional suppression in StD is associated with faster accumulation of negative evidence. The underlying neural mechanism may involve aberrant regulation between the dlPFC and amygdala in negative contexts.
Data came from two samples (Sample 1: 55 StD, 60 healthy controls (HC); Sample 2: 23 StD, 20 HC). Both samples completed expression suppression tasks. Using drift diffusion modeling, we decomposed performance on the emotional assessment process into separate processing components, particularly the speed of information update (drift rate), to examine how depression and emotional suppression affect decision-making. To further reveal the potential mechanism, we conducted fMRI scanning in Sample 2 and characterized latent neurocircuit driving emotion suppression and drift rate using dynamic causal modeling (DCM).
The EES negatively correlated with drift rate. StD showed reduced efficacy of EES and faster drift rates of negative preference. Greater activation was observed in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and amygdala in StD during suppression. DCM analysis revealed that inefficient EES might be explained by the stronger connection from the right dlPFC to the right amygdala, while the faster drift rate might be attributed to a stronger connection from the left amygdala to the right dlPFC.
Our study uncovered novel latent behavioral and neurocircuit mechanisms of early risk for depression. Ineffective emotional suppression in StD is associated with faster accumulation of negative evidence. The underlying neural mechanism may involve aberrant regulation between the dlPFC and amygdala in negative contexts.
Authors
Niu Niu, Toulopoulou Toulopoulou, Song Song, Li Li, Dai Dai, Chen Chen, Zhang Zhang, Chen Chen, Chen Chen, Wang Wang, Zhang Zhang, Zhang Zhang
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