| Author |
Yang, Xin-hua Huang, Jia Lan, Yong Zhu, Cui-ying Liu, Xiao-qun Wang, Ye-fei Cheung, Eric F. C. Xie, Guang-rong Chan, Raymond C. K. |
| Description |
Country affiliation: China Author Affiliation: Yang XH ( Mental Health Institute, The Second Xiangya Hospital, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China); Huang J ( Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.); Lan Y ( College of Business, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China.); Zhu CY ( College of Business, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China.); Liu XQ ( School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, China.); Wang YF ( Mental Health Institute, The Second Xiangya Hospital, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.); Cheung EF ( Castle Peak Hospital, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.); Xie GR ( Mental Health Institute, The Second Xiangya Hospital, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China. Electronic address: xiegr2000@126.com.); Chan RC ( Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: rckchan@psych.ac.cn.) |
| Abstract |
BACKGROUND: Anhedonia, the loss of interest or pleasure in reward processing, is a hallmark feature of major depressive disorder (MDD), but its underlying neurobiological mechanism is largely unknown. The present study aimed to examine the underlying neural mechanism of reward-related decision-making in patients with MDD. METHOD: We examined behavioral and neural responses to rewards in patients with first-episode MDD (N=25) and healthy controls (N=25) using the Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task (EEfRT). The task involved choices about possible rewards of varying magnitude and probability. We tested the hypothesis that individuals with MDD would exhibit a reduced neural response in reward-related brain structures involved in cost-benefit decision-making. RESULTS: Compared with healthy controls, patients with MDD showed significantly weaker responses in the left caudate nucleus when contrasting the 'high reward'-'low reward' condition, and blunted responses in the left superior temporal gyrus and the right caudate nucleus when contrasting high and low probabilities. In addition, hard tasks chosen during high probability trials were negatively correlated with superior temporal gyrus activity in MDD patients, while the same choices were negatively correlated with caudate nucleus activity in healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that reduced caudate nucleus and superior temporal gyrus activation may underpin abnormal cost-benefit decision-making in MDD. |
