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Subgenual activation and the finger of blame: individual differences and depression vulnerability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 September 2020

Karen E Lythe ,
Jennifer A Gethin ,
Clifford I Workman ,
Matthew A. Lambon Ralph ,
John F.W. Deakin ,
Jorge Moll  and
Roland Zahn Open the ORCID record for Roland Zahn [Opens in a new window]
Karen E Lythe
Affiliation:
The University of Manchester & Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, School of Psychological Sciences, Neuroscience and Aphasia Research Unit, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
Jennifer A Gethin
Affiliation:
The University of Manchester & Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, School of Psychological Sciences, Neuroscience and Aphasia Research Unit, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
Clifford I Workman
Affiliation:
The University of Manchester & Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, School of Psychological Sciences, Neuroscience and Aphasia Research Unit, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK The University of Manchester & Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, Neuroscience & Psychiatry Unit, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
Matthew A. Lambon Ralph
Affiliation:
The University of Manchester & Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, School of Psychological Sciences, Neuroscience and Aphasia Research Unit, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, UK
John F.W. Deakin
Affiliation:
The University of Manchester & Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, Neuroscience & Psychiatry Unit, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
Jorge Moll
Affiliation:
Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience Unit, D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), 22280-080 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Roland Zahn*
Affiliation:
The University of Manchester & Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, School of Psychological Sciences, Neuroscience and Aphasia Research Unit, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience Unit, D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), 22280-080 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Department of Psychological Medicine, Centre for Affective Disorders, King's College London, London, SE5 8AZ, UK National Service for Affective Disorders, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, SE5 8AZ, UK
*
Author for correspondence: Roland Zahn, E-mail: roland.zahn@kcl.ac.uk
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Abstract

Background

Subgenual cingulate cortex (SCC) responses to self-blaming emotion-evoking stimuli were previously found in individuals prone to self-blame with and without a history of major depressive disorder (MDD). This suggested SCC activation reflects self-blaming emotions such as guilt, which are central to models of MDD vulnerability.

Method

Here, we re-examined these hypotheses in an independent larger sample. A total of 109 medication-free participants (70 with remitted MDD and 39 healthy controls) underwent fMRI whilst judging self- and other-blaming emotion-evoking statements. They also completed validated questionnaires of proneness to self-blaming emotions including those related to internal (autonomy) and external (sociotropy) evaluation, which were subjected to factor analysis.

Results

An interaction between group (remitted MDD v. Control) and condition (self- v. other-blame) was observed in the right SCC (BA24). This was due to higher SCC signal for self-blame in remitted MDD and higher other-blame-selective activation in Control participants. Across the whole sample, extracted SCC activation cluster averages for self- v. other-blame were predicted by a regression model which included the reliable components derived from our factor analysis of measures of proneness to self-blaming emotions. Interestingly, this prediction was solely driven by autonomy/self-criticism, and adaptive guilt factors, with no effect of sociotropy/dependency.

Conclusions

Despite confirming the prediction of SCC activation in self-blame-prone individuals and those vulnerable to MDD, our results suggest that SCC activation reflects blame irrespective of where it is directed rather than selective for self. We speculate that self-critical individuals have more extended SCC representations for blame in the context of self-agency.

Keywords

Attachment styledepressionemotionsfMRIfrontal cortexindividual differences
Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 52 , Issue 8 , June 2022 , pp. 1560 - 1568
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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