P58-F Emotional modulation of visual ERPs in male patients with major depression and bipolar disorder

Abstract

Background We aimed at searching for the ERP parameters that will differentiate the patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD). We used CNV-paradigm resembling the Pavlovian conditioning: the relevant stimuli were preceded by the neutral stimuli (the cues). We studied the modifications of cue-elicited ERPs due to unconscious learning. Materials and methods Only male participants took part in our study: 18 patients with MDD, 14 patients with BD (depressive episode), and 60 healthy controls (HC). The non-medicated patients were recruited from the hospital; the groups didn’t differ in both Hamilton Anxiety and Depression Rating Scales. Participants had to sort 160 photographs as humans or animals. Half of the photographs were neutral, and half were showing angry/aggressive people or animals. Simple patterns (the cues) were presented 2s before the photographs, and the association between the pairs was not explained. We recorded 128-channel EEG and analyzed the ERPs in 0–400 ms from the cue onset. The differences (p Results The EM was found in P100 component for HC only. The N170 was modulated in HC and MDD, with EM showing somewhat similar topography. The EM in P220 component had specific topography in each of three groups. The EM in components peaking at 300–350 ms was also specific with central locations common for all groups. Conclusions Emotional modulation of some ERP components may be a candidate biomarker for differentiating certain kinds of psychopathology.