Altered error-related brain activity in youth with major depression

Depression is associated with impairments in cognitive control including action monitoring processes, which involve the detection and processing of erroneous responses in order to adjust behavior. Although numerous studies have reported altered error-related brain activity in depressed adults, relatively little is known about age-related changes in error-related brain activity in depressed youth. This study focuses on the error-related negativity (ERN), a negative deflection in the event-related potential (ERP) that is maximal approximately 50ms following errors. High-density ERPs were examined following responses on a flanker task in 24 youth diagnosed with MDD and 14 low-risk healthy controls (HC). Results indicate that compared to HC, MDD youth had significantly smaller ERN amplitudes and did not exhibit the normative increases in ERN amplitudes as a function of age. Also, ERN amplitudes were similar in depressed youth with and without comorbid anxiety. These results suggest that depressed youth exhibit different age-related changes in brain activity associated with action monitoring processes. Findings are discussed in terms of existing work on the neural correlates of action monitoring and depression and the need for longitudinal research studies investigating the development of neural systems underlying action monitoring in youth diagnosed with and at risk for depression.