Subjects with bipolar disorder showed different reward system activation than subjects with major depressive disorder in the monetary incentive delay task

Abstract

Background: Differentiating between bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) during the depressive episode is an important clinical challenge. Reward system abnormalities have received much attention as one of the biological underpinnings of BD and MDD, but few studies have directly compared these abnormalities in remitted and depressed states.Methods: This was a functional MRI study using the Monetary Incentive Delay task in 65 patients (BD [n = 33], MDD [n = 32]) and 33 healthy controls (HC). Regions of interest (ROI) analysis with 21 ROIs related to reward anticipation and 17 ROIs related to gain outcome were implemented, as well as whole-brain analysis. The difference in the dimensional effect of depression on brain activation was also examined.Results: Relative to the HC group, BD patients showed significantly decreased activation during reward anticipation in the anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula (AI), and putamen, and MDD patients showed significantly decreased activation in the AI and brainstem. The dimensional effect of depression severity showed a trend-level difference between BD and MDD in the right brainstem and left AI.Conclusions: The current study showed a possible differential effect of depression on the reward system between MDD and BD. Further studies on reward systems might offer reliable markers to distinguish between MDD and BD patients in the depressive phase.

Neurofunctional mapping of reward anticipation and outcome for major depressive disorder: a voxel-based meta-analysis

“…Table 1 summarises the clinical and demographic data of all the included studies. For anticipation article searching, based on the above strategy, a total of 11 studies met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis (Admon et al, 2017; Arrondo et al, 2015; Carl et al, 2016; DelDonno et al, 2019; Hagele et al, 2015; Knutson et al, 2008; Pizzagalli et al, 2009; Schwarz et al, 2020; Stoy et al, 2012; Ubl et al, 2015; Wakatsuki et al, 2022). This resulted in a sample of 279 MDD patients and 371 HC in the anticipation meta-analysis.…”

“…During the outcome stage, a total of 8 studies were initially included for the meta-analysis (Admon et al, 2017; Carl et al, 2016; Knutson et al, 2008; Pizzagalli et al, 2009; Reinen et al, 2021; Schwarz et al, 2020; Ubl et al, 2015; Wakatsuki et al, 2022). This comprised a sample of 217 MDD patients and 278 HC.…”

Hyperthymic temperament predicts neural responsiveness for nonmonetary reward

“…For the main task, we used an mMID task 28 identical to that in our previous report 10,29 . At the onset of the trial, a numeric cue (“500,” “100,” “–100,” “0,” or “[0]”) was presented for 2000 ms.…”

“…For the main task, we used an mMID task 28 identical to that in our previous report. 10 , 29 At the onset of the trial, a numeric cue (“500,” “100,” “–100,” “0,” or “[0]”) was presented for 2000 ms. The cue indicated the monetary reward (in Japanese yen) that participants would receive if they succeeded in following the button press.…”