Highly neurotic never-depressed students have negative biases in information processing

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Depression is theoretically linked to negative information processing biases.
• While negative cognitions are common in depression, their presence before the first episode is unclear.
• High neuroticism (N) is a known risk factor for depression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether negative emotional processing biases exist in individuals with high neuroticism before any depressive episode.
• To explore the neurobiological underpinnings of neuroticism by measuring awakening salivary cortisol.

Main Methods:

• Compared emotional processing in high-N never-depressed volunteers versus low-N controls.
• Assessed emotional categorization, memory, facial expression recognition, and emotion-potentiated startle (EPS).
• Measured awakening salivary cortisol levels.

Main Results:

• High-N volunteers exhibited increased negative and/or decreased positive information processing.
• These biases were observed in categorization, memory, facial recognition, and EPS, without global deficits.
• Neuroticism did not affect attentional bias, autobiographical memory, or cortisol levels.

Conclusions:

• Negative processing biases appear to precede depression, potentially mediating vulnerability in high-N individuals.
• These cognitive abnormalities may not solely result from depressive experiences.
• Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm if these cognitive vulnerabilities predict future depression.