Abstract
We explored the face classification processing mechanism in depressed patients, especially the biases of happy faces in face classification processing of depression. Thirty patients with the first episode of depression at the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University were selected as the depression group, while healthy people matched for age, gender, and educational level were assigned to the control group. The Hamilton Depression Scale and Hamilton Anxiety Scale were used to select the subjects; then, we used the forced face classification paradigm to collect behavioral (response time and accuracy) and event-related potential (ERP) data of the subjects. The differences between the groups were estimated using a repeated measurement analysis of variance. The total response time of classified faces in the depression group was longer than that in the control group, the correct rate was lower, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). N170 component analysis demonstrated that the latency of the depression group was prolonged, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). When classifying happy faces, the depressed patients demonstrated a decrease in N170 amplitude and a prolongation of latency in some brain regions compared with the healthy individuals. The cognitive bias in depression may be due to prolonged processing of positive facial information and difficulty in producing positive emotional responses.
Highlights
Depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide, and >300 million individuals live with depression [1]
The results demonstrated that the main effect of the accuracy of the facial expression category was significant (Fð2,57Þ = 28:81, P < 0:05, η2p = 0:391)
A significant difference was observed between the depression and control groups in the accuracy of facial expression classification (P < 0:05)
Summary
Depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide, and >300 million individuals live with depression [1]. The cognitive model of depression demonstrates that depressed individuals tend to attribute negative meanings to neutral stimuli and enhance the treatment of depressive stimuli. Many studies have confirmed that depressive patients tend to choose negative information consistent with their negative schema because of the negative cognitive schema in their brain when processing external information [4]. Studies have demonstrated that depressive patients have significant impairment of facial expression recognition [5]. The literature has demonstrated that depressed individuals tend to exaggerate negative stimuli [6, 7] and are more excited about sad faces [8]. Many event-related potential (ERP) studies have demonstrated that depressive patients have a bias
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