Abstract
The personal importance of religion or spirituality (R/S) has been associated with a lower risk for major depression (MDD), suicidal behavior, reduced cortical thinning and increased posterior EEG alpha, which has also been linked to antidepressant treatment response in MDD. Building on prior event-related potential (ERP) findings using an emotional hemifield paradigm, this study examined whether abnormal early (preconscious) responsivity to negative arousing stimuli, which is indicative of right parietotemporal dysfunction in both MDD patients and individuals at clinical high risk for MDD, is likewise moderated by R/S. We reanalyzed 72-channel ERP data from 127 individuals at high or low family risk for MDD (Kayser et al., 2017, NeuroImage Clin. 14, 692–707) after R/S stratification (low R/S importance, low/high risk, n = 38/61; high R/S importance, n = 15/13). ERPs were transformed to reference-free current source density (CSD) and quantified by temporal principal components analysis (tPCA). This report focused on N2 sink (peak latency 212 ms), the earliest prominent CSD-tPCA component previously found to be sensitive to emotional content. While overall N2 sink reflected activation of occipitotemporal cortex (prestriate/cuneus), as estimated via a distributed inverse solution, affective significance was marked by a relative (i.e., superimposed) positivity. Statistical analyses employed both non-parametric permutation tests and repeated measures ANOVA for mixed factorial designs with unstructured covariance matrix, including sex, age, and clinical covariates. Participants with low R/S importance, independent of risk status, showed greater ERP responsivity to negative than neutral stimuli, particularly over the right hemisphere. In contrast, early emotional ERP responsivity and asymmetry was substantially reduced for high risk individuals with high R/S importance, however, enhanced for low risk individuals with high R/S importance. Hemifield modulations of these effects (i.e., emotional ERP enhancements with left visual field/right hemisphere stimulus presentations) further corroborated these observations. Results suggest down-regulation of a right-lateralized network for salience detection at an early processing stage in high risk and high R/S importance individuals, presumably to prevent overactivation of ventral brain regions further downstream. These findings may point to a neurophysiological mechanism underlying resilience of families at risk for depression with high R/S prioritization.
Highlights
Religion and spirituality (R/S) are widely considered core constituents of all human societies (e.g., Inzlicht et al, 2009, 2011; Crescentini et al, 2015)
Maternal religion or spirituality (R/S) importance and mother-offspring concordance of R/S was associated with a 90% reduction of risk for incurring a depressive episode at 10-year follow-up (Miller et al, 1997), and offspring with high R/S importance had a 75% risk reduction of experiencing major depressive disorder (MDD) 10 years later, for those who were at high family risk because of a depressed parent (Miller et al, 2012)
The common variance associated with N2 sink was captured by a current source density (CSD)-temporal PCA (tPCA) factor peaking at 212 ms
Summary
Religion (or religiousness) and spirituality (R/S) are widely considered core constituents of all human societies (e.g., Inzlicht et al, 2009, 2011; Crescentini et al, 2015). They can provide for many individuals purpose to human existence, as well as resources to cope with stressful life experiences which appear to have a beneficial impact on mental (e.g., depression) and physical (e.g., cardiovascular) health (Koenig et al, 2001, 2012; Hill and Pargament, 2003; Cobb et al, 2012).
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