TY - JOUR

T1 - Depressive symptoms and autobiographical memory

T2 - A pilot electroencephalography (EEG) study

AU - Knyazev, Gennady G.

AU - Savostyanov, Alexander N.

AU - Bocharov, Andrey V.

AU - Kuznetsova, Valeriya B.

PY - 2017/3/16

Y1 - 2017/3/16

N2 - Introduction: Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have shown changes in the activity of medial prefrontal, medial temporal, and occipital regions in major depressive disorder patients during recall of autobiographical memories. Electrophysiological underpinning of these changes is not known. It is also not clear whether they are a part of the clinical picture or appear at preclinical stages in individuals predisposed to depression. Method: In this study, the effect of depressive symptoms, as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI–II), on oscillatory dynamics accompanying retrieval of emotionally positive and negative autobiographical memories was investigated in a nonclinical sample using electroencephalographic event-related spectral power and connectivity measures. Results: Psychometric results showed that BDI scores correlated positively with the strength of negative emotion, vividness of negative memories, and their importance for participant’s life. In high BDI scorers, low-frequency synchronization, which is frequently used as a marker of emotional arousal, prevailed in negative episodes, whereas in low BDI scorers it prevailed in positive episodes. sLORETA localized sources of this synchronization in the medial prefrontal cortex. In negative episodes, depressive symptoms were associated with a diminished event-related connectivity in the alpha band in posterior regions and increased connectivity in beta and gamma bands in frontal regions. Conclusions: Overall, these results show that even at preclinical stages, depressive symptoms are associated with changes in electrophysiological processes accompanying retrieval of autobiographical memories.

AB - Introduction: Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have shown changes in the activity of medial prefrontal, medial temporal, and occipital regions in major depressive disorder patients during recall of autobiographical memories. Electrophysiological underpinning of these changes is not known. It is also not clear whether they are a part of the clinical picture or appear at preclinical stages in individuals predisposed to depression. Method: In this study, the effect of depressive symptoms, as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI–II), on oscillatory dynamics accompanying retrieval of emotionally positive and negative autobiographical memories was investigated in a nonclinical sample using electroencephalographic event-related spectral power and connectivity measures. Results: Psychometric results showed that BDI scores correlated positively with the strength of negative emotion, vividness of negative memories, and their importance for participant’s life. In high BDI scorers, low-frequency synchronization, which is frequently used as a marker of emotional arousal, prevailed in negative episodes, whereas in low BDI scorers it prevailed in positive episodes. sLORETA localized sources of this synchronization in the medial prefrontal cortex. In negative episodes, depressive symptoms were associated with a diminished event-related connectivity in the alpha band in posterior regions and increased connectivity in beta and gamma bands in frontal regions. Conclusions: Overall, these results show that even at preclinical stages, depressive symptoms are associated with changes in electrophysiological processes accompanying retrieval of autobiographical memories.

KW - Autobiographical memory

KW - Depression

KW - Electroencephalography

KW - Functional connectivity

KW - sLORETA

KW - Humans

KW - Mental Recall/physiology

KW - Memory, Episodic

KW - Depression/physiopathology

KW - Male

KW - Emotions/physiology

KW - Brain/physiopathology

KW - Young Adult

KW - Psychiatric Status Rating Scales

KW - Adolescent

KW - Adult

KW - Female

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84983567804&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/13803395.2016.1219318

DO - 10.1080/13803395.2016.1219318

M3 - Article

C2 - 27559990

AN - SCOPUS:84983567804

VL - 39

SP - 242

EP - 256

JO - Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology

JF - Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology

SN - 1380-3395

IS - 3

ER -