Yearning predicts subgenual anterior cingulate activity in bereaved individuals

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Psychology

Background:

• Complicated grief (CG), or persistent complex bereavement disorder, affects 10% of bereaved individuals with intense longing.
• Neurocognitive mechanisms of CG are poorly understood, but reward pathways may be involved.
• The subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) is implicated in depression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neurocognitive mechanisms of complicated grief.
• To examine neural activation patterns during anticipation and viewing of spouse photos in relation to grief severity.

Main Methods:

• fMRI was used to examine neural activation in 25 older adults across three groups: complicated grief (CG), non-complicated grief (NCG), and non-bereaved controls (NB).
• Participants viewed a countdown (anticipation) followed by photos of their spouse or a stranger.
• Post-hoc analyses correlated self-reported yearning scores with neural activation.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in neural activation were found between groups for spouse vs. stranger photos or anticipation vs. spouse photos.
• Higher self-reported yearning scores predicted greater activation in the sgACC among bereaved participants.
• Preliminary findings suggest a potential role for sgACC in CG.

Conclusions:

• Yearning symptoms in complicated grief may be associated with increased activation in the sgACC.
• The sgACC might play a transdiagnostic role, potentially linking CG and depression.
• Further research with larger sample sizes is needed to replicate these findings and explore intervention targets.