Summary: A new research reveals that a lowered neural response to benefits in teens predicts the earliest beginnings of despair, but never anxiety or depression. EEG scans were used to calculate “reward positivity” in at-risk children by researchers, who discovered that those with sharpened reactions were more likely to develop depression.
This neurological symbol is independent of pre-existing symptoms, time, or intercourse, highlighting its distinct role in melancholy vulnerability. For first brain-based indicators could be used to design preventative measures to lessen lifelong risks of mental health.
Important Information:
- Reward Answer: Youth with sharpened neural reactions to rewards are at higher risk for first-time despair.
- Specific Risk Marker: The decreased praise optimism does not imply suicide or stress.
- Low-Cost Screening: EEG offers an accessible and easy method to identify at-risk youth.
Origin: Authorship
Novel research indicates that a teenager’s lowered neural response to rewards does not predict the first episode of depression, but rather anxiety or depression. This is independent of pre-existing depressed or stress symptoms, as well as age or sex, which are already powerful risk factors for depression.
The , research  , in , Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, published by Elsevier, is a step toward using brain research to understand and determine mental health challenges.
Youth’s mood and anxiety disorders are becoming more prevalent and have lasting effects. Premorbid neurological signs that indicate the risk of these diseases starting in a teenager’s life have been found in a select few studies.
Given that 50 % of children who experience one episode of depression or panic will go on to experience another event, this is especially important. Among those who have had two episodes, 80 % will go on to have a second or more.
Investigators at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, followed a group of 145 teens ( 64.8 % female ) with a family history of depressive or anxiety disorders, which put them at very high risk for developing these disorders themselves.
The Calgary Biopsychosocial Risk for Adolescent Internalizing Disorders ( CBRAID ) study, a longitudinal study program that looked at premorbid risk factors for adolescent first-lifetime onsets of mood and anxiety disorders, was conducted by participating families.
Experts conducted nine- and 18-month follow-ups to determine whether individuals had developed a major depressive disorder, panic disorder, or depressive thinking. The first onset of depression, but never anxiety or depression, was predicted by a blunted response to praise feedback ( also known as reward enthusiasm ) while playing a match during an EEG test in which youths were told they either won or lost.
This may point out that teenagers who experience less joy or happiness after receiving benefits are especially susceptible to experiencing depression for the first time in their lives.
First artist Gia-Huy L. Hoang, second-year mentor student in neuroscience, University of Calgary, adds,  ,” Evidence shows that kids with melancholy or anxiety disorders, which generally occur at the same time, generally exhibit a sharpened response to rewards.
” Our research suggests that the brain’s response to rewards may be a marker that specifically indicates a risk for depression, rather than for anxiety or suicidality, in teens.
A straightforward and affordable way to measure this response is to use EEG to measure how the brain responds to rewards.
Editor-in-Chief of , Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging , Cameron S. Carter, MD, University of California Irvine, comments,  ,” Depression, anxiety, and suicidality are strongly linked, and are highly disabling and common problems that typically begin during adolescence. Reward processing is closely related to anxiety and depression.
” However, little is known about if a blunted response to rewards precedes these conditions and confers risk for depression, anxiety, or suicidality.
It is crucial to understand and assess mental health risks by looking into specific biomarkers that can identify the risk of first-lifetime onsets of these conditions.
Senior investigator Daniel C. Kopala-Sibley, PhD, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Alberta Children Hospital Research Institute, The Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research &, Education, and Department of Psychiatry, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, concludes,” Our findings are important as we work towards understanding the brain bases of why teens become depressed for the first time in their lives, which may ultimately further our ability to identify those at risk and intervene with them to prevent the onset of these disorders”.
About this news about neurodevelopment and depression
Author: Eileen Leahy
Source: Elsevier
Contact: Eileen Leahy – Elsevier
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
” The Reward Positivity as a Predictor of First Lifetime Onsets of Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidal Ideation in High-Risk Adolescents” by Daniel C. Kopala-Sibley et al. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
Abstract
The Reward Positivity as a Predictor of First Lifetime Onsets of Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidal Ideation in High-Risk Adolescents
Background
Reducing reward potential, an electroencephalography ( EEG ) marker produced by feedback indicating reward, has been linked to an increased risk of depression in adolescence. However, the predictive capability of RewP in predicting the first-lifetime onset of depressive disorders, as opposed to anxiety and suicidal ideation in high-risk populations, has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, the authors examine if RewP predicts the first-lifetime onset of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation over 18 months in familial high-risk adolescents.
Methods
The sample included 145 adolescents ( 64.8 % male ), aged 11–17 years, who had at least one parent with a history of mood and anxiety disorders and completed baseline and at least one follow-up measurement. At baseline, RewP was measured using a simple gambling task, their current internalizing symptoms were assessed using self-report questionnaires, and the youth’s psychiatric diagnoses were evaluated with diagnostic interviews. At 9 months and 18 months later, the adolescents received the same interview.
Results
Even after controlling for sex, age, and baseline internalizing symptoms, statistical regression analysis revealed that higher RewP scores consistently predicted a lower risk of developing a first onset of Major Depressive Disorder ( MDD ) over the course of 18 months. RewP, in contrast, did not statistically predict the first signs of anxiety disorders or suicidal ideation.
Conclusions
Reduced RewP precedes the first onset of depression in high-risk adolescents, highlighting RewP’s predictive capability in predicting depression risk in predisposed populations. In screening and prevention, blundered RewP might be able to replace self-reported symptoms.
