Neural reactivity to reward and internalizing symptom dimensions

Abstract

Background: Reduced reward responsiveness, measured via the event-related potential (ERP) component the reward positivity (RewP), has been linked to several internalizing psychopathologies (IPs). Specifically, prior studies suggest that a reduced RewP is robustly related to depression and to a lesser extent anxiety. No studies to date, however, have examined the relation between the RewP and IP symptom dimensions in a heterogeneous, clinically representative patient population that includes both depressed and/or anxious subjects. The primary aim of the current study was to examine the relation between the RewP and specific internalizing symptom dimensions among patients with a variety of IP diagnoses and symptoms.

Methods: A total of 80 treatment seeking adults from the community completed a battery of questionnaires assessing a range of IP symptoms and a well-validated reward processing task known to robustly elicit the RewP.

Results: A principal components analysis (PCA) on clinical assessments revealed two distinct factors that characterized the patient sample: affective distress/misery and fear-based anxiety. Results showed that within this sample, an attenuated RewP was associated with greater affective distress/misery based symptoms; however, the RewP was unrelated to fear-based anxiety symptoms.

Conclusions: The current findings suggest that patients with higher distress/misery symptoms are characterized by decreased responsivity to rewards at the physiological level, and that this response tendency distinguishes distress/misery symptoms from fear-based symptoms. The RewP may be one promising transdiagnostic biological target for intervention efforts for individuals with distress-based symptoms of psychopathology.

Keywords: Distress; Event-related potentials; Fear; Internalizing symptoms; Reward positivity.

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Figures

Figure 1

On the left, response-locked ERP waveform for gain and loss trials, as well as the difference waves (reward positivity; RewP) across the entire sample (n = 80). On the right, topographic map of activity (gain minus loss) across the entire sample.

Figure 2

On the top, response-locked ERP waveforms for gain and loss trials, as well as the difference waves (reward positivity; RewP) and on the bottom, topographic maps of activity (gain minus loss) for individuals with a) low (n = 40) and b) high (n = 40) distress/misery symptoms (defined by a median split for Factor Component 1).

Figure 3

Scatter plot depicting the association between RewP and a) distress/misery symptoms (factor 1) and b) fear-based anxiety symptoms (factor 2).