Frontal beta activity as a marker for depression-related negativity bias in emotional association
Poster No:
750
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Minsok Koo1, Sang Ah Lee2
Institutions:
1Seoul National University, Seoul, Seoul, 2Seoul National University, Gwanak-gu, Seoul
First Author:
Co-Author:
Introduction:
In our daily lives, we often experience multiple emotionally significant events, occurring in the same place or context. Evidence suggests that our emotional responses are bound to these spatial contexts in memory, and that these associated emotions often resurface when we revisit these locations. Disproportionate recall of negative over positive emotions in mixed emotional memories could indicate a person's susceptibility to affective disorders such as depression. Higher activation in the prefrontal cortex, especially in the medial regions, is associated with decision-making in ambiguous emotional situations(4). There are several well-known EEG markers for emotion-processing in the frontal lobe, with some studies highlighting the importance of beta oscillations(2), while others reporting effects in the theta and alpha bands(5). Our study aims to examine the neural underpinnings of emotional association with a spatial context (scene), using scalp EEG, and to investigate how this emotional memory and its neural correlates are related to individual levels of depression.
Methods:
20 healthy participants(mean age: 28.9) were recruited for the experiment and were asked to complete the Beck Depression Index-II(BDI-II) to measure their depression-like symptoms. During the encoding part of the task, a neutral background scene was presented, followed by two separate emotional scenarios on top of the same scene in subsequent order. Each of the two emotional images was either negative(N), positive(P), or neutral(Neu), and participants were asked to provide valence ratings from a scale of -3 to +3. During the retrieval part of the task, previously shown neutral background scenes,without the foreground emotional images, were presented, and participants were asked to rate the emotional valence associated with each scene.
Results:
We first examined if the final image reinstated the intended emotion and how depression levels affected valence ratings. A repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant within-subject differences among valence ratings across the emotion conditions (mixed (N-P, P-N pairs), neutral (Neu-Neu), negative (N-N), positive (P-P) conditions) (F(3,51)=6.494,p<0.01) and between-subject effects of depression (F(1,17)=10.314,p<0.01). Depression scores negatively correlated with valence ratings in mixed(r=-.555,p<0.05), neutral(r=-.713,p<0.001), and positive(r=-.502,p<0.05) conditions, but not in negative(r=.259,p>0.1) ones, indicating a consistent rating of negativity across all subjects in fully negative conditions. The interaction between Emotion Condition and Depression was only marginally significant (F(3,51)=2.497,p=0.079).
We tested the hypothesis of possibility of greater frontal lobe engagement in mixed emotions by analyzing scalp EEG data during final retrieval and found a positive correlation between depression scores and frontal beta power in the mixed(r=.523,p<0.05), N-N(r=.475,p<0.05), and P-P(r=.480,p<0.05) conditions. To investigate whether differences in frontal beta activity serve as a marker for severity of depression symptoms, which consequently impacts one's memory of associated emotion, we performed a mediation analysis and found that depression scores significantly affected frontal beta activity, influencing valence ratings of scenes associated with mixed emotions (z=-2.07,p<0.05).
We tested the hypothesis of possibility of greater frontal lobe engagement in mixed emotions by analyzing scalp EEG data during final retrieval and found a positive correlation between depression scores and frontal beta power in the mixed(r=.523,p<0.05), N-N(r=.475,p<0.05), and P-P(r=.480,p<0.05) conditions. To investigate whether differences in frontal beta activity serve as a marker for severity of depression symptoms, which consequently impacts one's memory of associated emotion, we performed a mediation analysis and found that depression scores significantly affected frontal beta activity, influencing valence ratings of scenes associated with mixed emotions (z=-2.07,p<0.05).
Conclusions:
Our study reveals that frontal beta activity signals depression-linked changes in regulating and remembering context-bound emotions, especially in scenes associated with mixed emotions. One of the key brain regions for mediating ambiguous emotion is the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. According to EEG source localization studies, frontal beta during emotional processing may indicate vmPFC activation reinstating of the negative scenarios over positive ones. This contributes to our understanding of how depression affects emotional processing and memory, and opens up possibilities for research and clinical interventions targeting these neural pathways.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Psychiatric (eg. Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia) 2
Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:
Emotional Perception 1
Learning and Memory:
Long-Term Memory (Episodic and Semantic)
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
EEG/MEG Modeling and Analysis
Keywords:
Electroencephaolography (EEG)
Emotions
Memory
Psychiatric Disorders
Other - Depression
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
Güntekin, B(2010). Event-related beta oscillations are affected by emotional eliciting stimuli. Neuroscience letters, 483(3), 173-178.
Kaping, D. (2011). Specific contributions of ventromedial, anterior cingulate, and lateral prefrontal cortex for attentional selection and stimulus valuation. PLoS biology, 9(12), e1001224.
Lipsman (2014). Beta coherence within human ventromedial prefrontal cortex precedes affective value choices. Neuroimage, 85, 769-778.
Reznik (2018). Frontal asymmetry as a mediator and moderator of emotion: An updated review. Psychophysiology, 55(1), e12965.