Reward dysfunction is thought to be play a critical role in the pathogenesis of depression. Multiple studies have linked depression to abnormal neural sensitivity to monetary rewards, but it remains unclear whether this reward dysfunction is generalizable to other rewards types. The current study begins to address this gap by assessing abnormal sensitivity to both monetary and social rewards in relation to depressive symptoms. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) during two incentive delay tasks, one with monetary reward and one with social reward. Both tasks were administered within the same sample, enabling a direct comparison of reward types. ERPs elicited by social and nonsocial rewards were morphologically similar across several stages of processing: cue salience, outcome anticipation, early outcome evaluation, outcome salience. Moderation analyses showed depression was linked with a pattern of general deficits across social and monetary rewards, specifically for the stages of outcome anticipation (stimulus-preceding negativity) and outcome salience (feedback-P3); self-reported reward sensitivity was generally associated with early outcome evaluation (reward positivity). Regression analyses modeling task-specific variance, however, showed a unique association between depression and outcome salience for social rewards, controlling for monetary rewards. The findings from this study underscore the importance of assessing neural sensitivity to multiple reward types in depression, particularly social reward. Characterizing the profile of reward functioning in depression across reward types may help to link laboratory-based deficits to relatively global vs. focal difficulties in real-world functioning.

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Multiple models of aberrant emotional processing in depression have been advanced. However, it is unclear which of these models best applies to emotional disturbances in subclinical depressive symptoms. The current study employed a battery of psychophysiological measures and emotional ratings in a picture viewing paradigm to examine whether the underarousal, low positive emotion, heightened negative emotion, or emotion context insensitivity model of emotional dysfunction in subclinical depressive symptoms received greatest support. Postauricular reflex and skin conductance response potentiation for pleasantminus neutral pictures (measuring low positive emotion), overall skin conductance magnitude and LPP amplitude (measuring underarousal), and pleasant minus aversive valence ratings (measuring emotion context insensitivity) and aversive minus neutral arousal ratings (measuring heightened negative emotionality) were all negatively related to depressive symptomatology. Of these, postauricular reflex potentiation and overall LPP amplitude were incrementally associated with depressive symptoms over the other measures. Postauricular reflex potentiation, overall skin conductance magnitude, and aversive minus neutral arousal ratings were incrementally associated with depressive symptomatology after controlling for other symptoms of internalizing disorders. Though no model was unequivocally superior, the low positive emotion and underarousal models received the most support from physiological measures and symptom reports, with self-report data matching patterns consistent with the emotion context insensitivity model.

Adapting behavior to dynamic stimulus-reward contingences is a core feature of reversal learning and a capacity thought to be critical to socio-emotional behavior. Impairment in reversal learning has been linked to multiple psychiatric outcomes, including depression, Parkinson's disorder, and substance abuse. A recent influential study introduced an innovative laboratory reversal-learning paradigm capable of disentangling the roles of feedback valence and expectancy. Here, we sought to use this paradigm in order to examine the time-course of reward and punishment learning using event-related potentials among a large, representative sample (N = 101). Three distinct phases of processing were examined: initial feedback evaluation (reward positivity, or RewP), allocation of attention (P3), and sustained processing (late positive potential, or LPP). Results indicate a differential pattern of valence and expectancy across these processing stages: the RewP was uniquely related to valence (i.e., positive vs. negative feedback), the P3 was uniquely associated with expectancy (i.e., unexpected vs. expected feedback), and the LPP was sensitive to both valence and expectancy (i.e., main effects of each, but no interaction). The link between ERP amplitudes and behavioral performance was strongest for the P3, and this association was valencespecific. Overall, these findings highlight the potential utility of the P3 as a neural marker for feedback processing in reversal-based learning and establish a foundation for future research in clinical populations.

Recent theoretical models underline reward sensitivity as a potential endophenotype for major depressive disorder. Neural and behavioral evidence reveals depression is associated with reduced reward sensitivity. However, reward dysfunction is not unique to depression, as it is also common across disorders of poor impulse control. We examined the interrelationships of depression (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale [DASS-21]) and impulsivity (UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale) with reward sensitivity among a large, representative sample (N = 260). ERPs were recorded to isolate two neural indicators of consummatory reward processing: initial evaluation of rewards in the 250-350 ms time window postonset of feedback (reward positivity [RewP]), and salience to monetary outcomes (P3). Significant interactions were observed between depression and impulsivity facets across these two stages of reward processing: depression and positive urgency predicted RewP amplitude to reward outcomes (win vs. loss); depression and one other impulsivity trait, (lack of) premeditation, predicted P3 amplitude to monetary outcomes. Conversely, high symptoms of depression were related to three biobehavioral profiles: (1) blunted RewP in conjunction with high positive urgency, (2) combination of blunted RewP and low (lack of) premeditation, and (3) blunted P3 to monetary wins/losses, in conjunction with low (lack of) premeditation. Findings illustrate that reward-related dysfunctions may be optimally conceptualized when examining the interactions between dimensions of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology.