Abstract
We used filtered low spatial frequency images of facial emotional expressions (angry, fearful, happy, sad, or neutral faces) that were blended with a high-frequency image of the same face but with a neutral facial expression, so as to obtain a “hybrid” face image that “masked” the subjective perception of its emotional expression. Participants were categorized in three groups of participants: healthy control participants (N = 49), recovered previously depressed (N = 79), and currently depressed individuals (N = 36), All participants were asked to rate how friendly the person in the picture looked. Simultaneously we recorded, by use of an infrared eye-tracker, their pupillary responses. We expected that depressed individuals (either currently or previously depressed) would show a negative bias and therefore rate the negative emotional faces, albeit the emotions being invisible, as more negative (i.e., less friendly) than the healthy controls would. Similarly, we expected that depressed individuals would overreact to the negative emotions and that this would result in greater dilations of the pupil's diameter than those shown by controls for the same emotions. Although we observed the expected pattern of effects of the hidden emotions on both ratings and pupillary changes, both responses did not differ significantly among the three groups of participants. The implications of this finding are discussed.
Highlights
IntroductionSeveral neuroscience studies show that an extended network involving the medial prefrontal cortex, anterior circulates and amygdala (as well as other anatomically-related limbic, striatal, thalamic, and basal forebrain structures) is dysfunctional in individuals suffering from depression (Price and Drevets, 2011; Stuhrmann et al, 2011)
Several neuroscience studies show that an extended network involving the medial prefrontal cortex, anterior circulates and amygdala is dysfunctional in individuals suffering from depression (Price and Drevets, 2011; Stuhrmann et al, 2011)
Because hyperactivity of the amygdala has been clearly associated with depression in adults, it has been proposed that antidepressants may exert their therapeutic action by constraining such over-activity (e.g., Murphy et al, 2009; Godlewska et al, 2012)
Summary
Several neuroscience studies show that an extended network involving the medial prefrontal cortex, anterior circulates and amygdala (as well as other anatomically-related limbic, striatal, thalamic, and basal forebrain structures) is dysfunctional in individuals suffering from depression (Price and Drevets, 2011; Stuhrmann et al, 2011). Neuroimaging studies show that the resting metabolism of the amygdala is abnormally elevated and that activations in this neural structure are exaggerated to sad stimuli. Because hyperactivity of the amygdala has been clearly associated with depression in adults, it has been proposed that antidepressants may exert their therapeutic action by constraining such over-activity (e.g., Murphy et al, 2009; Godlewska et al, 2012). Depressed individuals remember best negatively-valenced information, show more interference from negative words than positive ones, respond faster to sad than happy words, and prefer to attend to faces showing negative expressions than neutral or positive and tend to interpret ambiguous information as more negative than non-depressed individuals
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