Electrophysiological evidence of mal-adaptation to error in remitted depression

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Major depressive disorder (MDD) has a high recurrence rate, necessitating identification of persistent risk markers.
• Negative information processing biases, particularly heightened responses to errors, are implicated in MDD recurrence.
• Neurophysiological underpinnings of post-error adaptation in depression remain underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral performance following errors in individuals with remitted MDD (rMDD) compared to healthy controls (HC).
• To examine the impact of errors on current and post-error trial ERPs (error-related negativity [ERN] and correct response negativity [CRN]).
• To assess longer-term adaptation to errors over the course of a task in rMDD participants.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a flanker task to assess behavioral performance and response-locked ERPs.
• Included 58 participants with rMDD and 118 HC.
• Analyzed trial-level data to examine ERN/CRN amplitudes and habituation patterns.

Main Results:

• rMDD participants displayed a larger ERN on error trials and reduced ERN habituation over time compared to HC.
• Following errors, rMDD participants exhibited slower reaction times, predicted by prior ERN amplitude, but maintained comparable accuracy.
• This pattern was associated with greater anhedonia, MDD history, and interpersonal impairment, and predicted future anhedonia symptoms.

Conclusions:

• A hyperactive performance monitoring system, indicated by enhanced ERN and impaired adaptation, may serve as a risk marker for MDD recurrence.
• Deficient error disengagement or compensatory strategies may underlie the observed behavioral differences in rMDD.
• Findings highlight the link between neurophysiological responses to errors, symptom severity, and long-term recurrence risk in MDD.