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Inhibitory deficits for negative information in persons with major depressive disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2007

MARK A. LAU ,
BRUCE K. CHRISTENSEN ,
LANCE L. HAWLEY ,
MICHAEL S. GEMAR  and
ZINDEL V. SEGAL
MARK A. LAU*
Affiliation:
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
BRUCE K. CHRISTENSEN
Affiliation:
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
LANCE L. HAWLEY
Affiliation:
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MICHAEL S. GEMAR
Affiliation:
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
ZINDEL V. SEGAL
Affiliation:
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr Mark A. Lau, BC Mental Health & Addiction Services, 201–601 West Broadway, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 4C2, Canada. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

Within Beck's cognitive model of depression, little is known about the mechanism(s) by which activated self-schemas result in the production of negative thoughts. Recent research has demonstrated that inhibitory dysfunction is present in depression, and this deficit is likely valence-specific. However, whether valence-specific inhibitory deficits are associated with increased negative cognition and whether such deficits are specific to depression per se remains unexamined. The authors posit the theory that inhibitory dysfunction may influence the degree to which activated self-schemas result in the production of depressive cognition.

Method

Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD, n=43) versus healthy (n=36) and non-depressed anxious (n=32) controls were assessed on the Prose Distraction Task (PDT), a measure of cognitive inhibition, and the Stop-Signal Task (SST), a measure of motor response inhibition. These two tasks were modified in order to present emotionally valenced semantic stimuli (i.e. negative, neutral, positive).

Results

Participants with MDD demonstrated performance impairments on the PDT, which were most pronounced for negatively valenced adjectives, relative to both control groups. Moreover, these impairments correlated with self-report measures of negative thinking and rumination. Conversely, the performance of the MDD participants did not differ from either control group on the SST.

Conclusions

Implications of these findings for understanding the mechanisms underlying the development and maintenance of depressive cognition are discussed.

Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 37 , Issue 9 , September 2007 , pp. 1249 - 1259
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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