Neural activation and connectivity in offspring of depressed mothers during monetary and social reward tasks

Abstract

Multiple previous studies show associations between history of and familial risk for depression and reward function. These previous studies have predominantly focused on neural activation during monetary tasks. Fewer studies of have examined functional connectivity and social reward tasks, particularly in offspring of mothers with depression. This study examined brain function in older children (aged 9–14 years) through both regional activation and functional connectivity during monetary (n = 103) and social reward (n = 115) tasks. Overall, our study failed to find significant differences between offspring of mothers with and without depression on monetary (65 offspring of mothers without and 38 offspring of mother with depression) and social reward (73 offspring of mothers without and 42 offspring of mother with depression) tasks on task activation and functional connectivity. We discuss possibilities for developmental timing of finding differences between offspring of mothers with and without depression on monetary and social reward tasks.