Stressful Life Events and Sleep Health as Predictors of Neural Reward Processing and Depression in Young Women

Abstract

Stressful life events and poor sleep health both increase risk for depression, and they may do this by disrupting neural response to rewards. Neural systems that are involved in reward processing, such as the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), may be particularly vulnerable to stressful events and poor sleep health. This study evaluates stressful life events and sleep health as predictors of mPFC response to rewards and depressive symptoms in young women.