Abstract
Major depressive disorder is strongly associated with impairments and difficulties in social interactions. Deficits in empathy, a vital skill for social interactions, have been identified as a risk factor for relapse. However, research on empathy in remitted states of depression is scarce. We chose a social neuroscience approach to investigate potentially altered neural processes involved in sub-components of empathy in remitted states of depression. We expected aberrations in cognitive components of empathy, based on previous reports regarding their role as risk factors for relapse.
Methods
Employing functional magnetic resonance imaging and a pain empathy task (video clips of painful medical treatments), we compared behavioral and neural empathic responses of unmedicated remitted depressive patients (N = 32) to those of untreated acutely depressed patients (N = 29) and healthy controls (N = 35). Self-report ratings of pain evaluation and affect-sharing were obtained.
Results
Compared to controls and acutely depressed patients, remitted depressive patients reported higher pain evaluation and showed increased activity in the right temporo-parietal junction. This region, which is central to self-other distinction and which has been linked to adopting a detached perspective, also exhibited reduced connectivity to the anterior insula. Furthermore, we observed reduced activity in regions involved in emotion processing (amygdala) and perception of affective facial expressions (fusiform face area, posterior superior temporal sulcus).
Conclusions
Remitted states of depression are associated with a detached empathic style in response to others’ pain, characterized by increased self-other distinction, lowered affective processing, and reduced connectivity between empathy-related brain regions. Although this may prevent emotional harm in specific situations, it may reduce opportunities for positive experiences in social interactions in the long run.
| Originalsprache | Englisch |
|---|---|
| Aufsatznummer | 102699 |
| Seitenumfang | 9 |
| Fachzeitschrift | NeuroImage: Clinical |
| Jahrgang | 31 |
| DOIs | |
| Publikationsstatus | Veröffentlicht - 2021 |
Fördermittel
This research was supported by the intramural grant \u2018Multimodal Neuroimaging in Clinical Neurosciences\u2014Assessment of neurobiological markers for psychiatric disorders\u2019 of the research cluster between the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna, by the grant \u2018Interdisciplinary Translational Brain Research Cluster (ITHC) with highfield MR\u2019 from the Federal Ministry of Science, Research, and Economy (BMWFW), Austria, and a grant by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF, No. KLI 516) to R. Lanzenberger. M. Kl\u00F6bl is recipient of a DOC fellowship of the Austrian Academy of Sciences at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the Medical University in Vienna. We thank G.S. Kranz, A. Hahn, S. Ganger, R. Seiger, J. Losak, M. K\u00FCblb\u00F6ck, A. Hoffmann, A. Hummer, I.L. St\u00FCrkat, K. Paul, A. Wucherer, A. Grahl, C. Siegl, D. Fraissl, D. Willinger, M. Hubinger, J. Hass, and N. Geissberger for methodological or technical support and D. Winkler, M. Spies, P. Baldinger, A. H\u00F6flich, J. Unterholzner, M. Godbersen, L, Schwarz, L. Silberbauer, P. K\u00F6ck, O. Mahlberg, C. Winkler, R. Hoffmann, M. Svagr, and V. Rotter for clinical support with the study. RL received travel grants and/or conference speaker honoraria within the last three years from Bruker BioSpin MR, Heel, and support from Siemens Healthcare regarding clinical research using PET/MR. He is shareholder of BM Health GmbH since 2019. TV received travel grants and compensation for workshop participation from Pfizer and Eli Lilly and speaker honorary from Shire. CK received travel grants from Roche Austria GmbH and AOP Orphan. The remaining authors declare that they have no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest. This research was supported by the intramural grant \u2018Multimodal Neuroimaging in Clinical Neurosciences\u2014Assessment of neurobiological markers for psychiatric disorders\u2019 of the research cluster between the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna, by the grant \u2018Interdisciplinary Translational Brain Research Cluster (ITHC) with highfield MR\u2019 from the Federal Ministry of Science, Research, and Economy (BMWFW), Austria, and a grant by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF, No. KLI 516) to R. Lanzenberger. M. Kl\u00F6bl is recipient of a DOC fellowship of the Austrian Academy of Sciences at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the Medical University in Vienna. We thank G.S. Kranz, A. Hahn, S. Ganger, R. Seiger, J. Losak, M. K\u00FCblb\u00F6ck, A. Hoffmann, A. Hummer, I.L. St\u00FCrkat, K. Paul, A. Wucherer, A. Grahl, C. Siegl, D. Fraissl, D. Willinger, M. Hubinger, J. Hass, and N. Geissberger for methodological or technical support and D. Winkler, M. Spies, P. Baldinger, A. H\u00F6flich, J. Unterholzner, M. Godbersen, L, Schwarz, L. Silberbauer, P. K\u00F6ck, O. Mahlberg, C. Winkler, R. Hoffmann, M. Svagr, and V. Rotter for clinical support with the study.
ÖFOS 2012
- 501010 Klinische Psychologie
- 301401 Hirnforschung
Zitationsweisen
- APA
- Author
- BIBTEX
- Harvard
- Standard
- RIS
- Vancouver