Depression history and deficits in executive control following stress: A role for the expected value of control

Deficits in executive control following stress have been proposed to drive depression-related dysfunction. Current theories of these executive control deficits in depression suggest these deficits reflect deficits in implementing control. However, aberrant computations of the value of said control can mimic a deficit in control, even in the absence of a deficit. The current study aimed to determine the mechanisms underlying depression-related deficits in executive control task performance following stress. To that end, individuals with a verified history of major depressive disorder (MDDh) and matched control participants without a history of psychopathology completed a modified Stroop task following an acute stressor. We took a multimethod, converging operations approach using fMRI and a novel cognitive model to assess how MDDh relates to both control-related (right inferior frontal gyrus; rIFG) and affective-related processes involved in the computation of control (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex; dACC) during executive control task performance following stress. We found depression-history-related differences in dACC but not rIFG responses to Stroop conflict. Further, computational modeling and control-related self-reported affect suggested that MDDh-related differences in task performance following stress were consistent with differences in computing the expected value of control. Our results suggest that depression-history-related deficits in executive control task performance following stress may reflect aberrant computations of the value of control.