Effects of stressor controllability on psychophysiological, cognitive and behavioural responses in patients with major depression and dysthymia

Abstract

BackgroundThe experience of uncontrollability and helplessness in the face of stressful life events is regarded as an important determinant in the development and maintenance of depression. The inability to successfully deal with stressors might be linked to dysfunctional prefrontal functioning. We assessed cognitive, behavioural and physiological effects of stressor uncontrollability in depressed and healthy individuals. In addition, relationships between altered cortical processing and cognitive vulnerability traits of depression were analysed.MethodA total of 26 unmedicated depressed patients and 24 matched healthy controls were tested in an expanded forewarned reaction (S1–S2) paradigm. In a factorial design, stressor controllability varied across three consecutive conditions: (a) control, (b) loss of control and (c) restitution of control. Throughout the experiment, error rates, ratings of controllability, arousal, emotional valence and helplessness were assessed together with the post-imperative negative variation (PINV) of the electroencephalogram.ResultsDepressed participants showed an enhanced frontal PINV as an electrophysiological index of altered information processing during both loss of control and restitution of control. They also felt more helpless than controls. Furthermore, frontal PINV magnitudes were associated with habitual rumination in the depressed subsample.ConclusionsThese findings indicate that depressed patients are more susceptible to stressor uncontrollability than healthy subjects. Moreover, the experience of uncontrollability seems to bias subsequent information processing in a situation where control is objectively re-established. Alterations in prefrontal functioning appear to contribute to this vulnerability and are also linked to trait markers of depression.

Mouse social stress induces increased fear conditioning, helplessness and fatigue to physical challenge together with markers of altered immune and dopamine function

“…The study design was informed by the generalized helplessness hypothesis of depression, which proposes that exposure to a specific aversive life event (stressor) that is of high emotional significance and uncontrollable leads to altered responding to all aversive life events, including increased negative emotionality, decreased motivation to actively cope with/control the adversity, and reduced cognitive expectancy to cope with/control the adversity (Abramson et al, 1989;Abramson et al, 1978;Beck et al, 1974;Diener et al, 2009;Kendler et al, 2003;Kessler, 1997;Maier and Seligman, 1976;Pryce et al, 2011). Although it is one of the few succinct hypotheses of depression onset-maintenance, research into the neurobiology that might underlie generalized helplessness has been scant, and relevant animal models would make an important contribution to this.…”

“…It has been proposed that learned uncontrollability of one life event (specific helplessness) can become generalized to other life events regardless of their controllability, i.e. generalized helplessness (Abramson et al, 1989;Abramson et al, 1978;Beck et al, 1974;Diener et al, 2009;Maier and Seligman, 1976;Pryce et al, 2011).…”

“…Experimental evidence for these states include increased fear conditioning to stimuli that predict uncontrollable electroshock (Nissen et al, 2010), and increased helplessness during and after exposure to uncontrollable electroshock (Diener et al, 2009;Strigo et al, 2008), in depressed patients relative to healthy controls. The core symptom of fatigue is also complex and comprises experiencing physical and cognitive tasks as requiring extreme effort (Demyttenaere et al, 2005).…”

Deficient distracter inhibition and enhanced facilitation for emotional stimuli in depression: An ERP study

“…Although the finding of reduced P3 for negative faces in negative priming condition can be related to previous work on reduced prefrontal control in depression (Canli et al, 2004), the use of ERP methodology does not allow us to give the exact localisation of the source of neural activation. However, functional neuroimaging and EEG studies point to abnormal anterior cingulate activity in depressed subjects during cognitive effort (George et al, 1997;Diener et al, 2009;Diener et al, 2010).. Therefore, future studies -22 -need to examine this topic by Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography (LORETA) source localisation (Pascual-Marqui, 1997) or by other neuroimaging methods.…”

Research Letter: Reproducibility and predictive value of the post-imperative negative variation during aversive instrumental learning in depression

“…In a previous EEG study employing a forewarned reaction paradigm (S1-S2) with varying stressor controllability, we investigated physiological effects of stressor uncontrollability and their cognitive correlates in depressed and healthy individuals (Diener et al 2009a). Compared with healthy individuals, depressed participants showed enhanced frontal PINV magnitudes during both loss and restitution of control.…”