Introduction
What brain region was said to be associated with the cognitive aspect of self-referential processing?
mPFC
What did the researchers hypothesize that CBT would do to activity in the vACC and MPFC across the board?
Decrease
What was the symptom assessment tool used in both depressive patients and healthy controls over the duration of the study?
(BDI - Beck Depression Inventory)
At baseline, which group showed lower activity in both brain regions with positive stimuli?
Depressive patients
DAILY DOUBLE
Identify the incorrect option (half) and correct it (full):
There was a clear pharmacotherapy confound throughout the study due to uncontrolled antidepressant intake.
There was poor test-retest reliability, especially in the healthy controls
Some patients continued their antidepressant throughout the study, while others stopped it during the 12 weeks
Some patients continued their antidepressant throughout the study, while others stopped it during the 12 weeks
All patients continued an antidepressant throughout the study.
What two brain regions was said to be associated with responding to emotional stimuli and emotional regulation?
vACC and amygdala
How did the researchers think activation in the vACC and MPFC at baseline (BEFORE CBT) would be different in the depressed patients compared to the healthy controls?
Lower activation
Identify the two working dependent variables of the study
(Patient symptom progress and brain activation in mPFC and vACC/amygdala)
In patients with greater depression remission, what initial level of vACC activity did they show?
Lower vACC activity
Overall, what happened to cognitive-emotional processing following CBT treatment in depressive patients?
More balanced
DAILY DOUBLE
Identify the incorrect option (half) and correct it (full):
Negative self-referential processing in depression involves altered activity in one region of the brain in particular
A goal of CBT is to identify/reverse negative thinking patterns
3. A goal of CBT is to engage in more enjoyable and adaptive (less maladaptive) activities
Negative self-referential processing in depression involves altered activity in one region of the brain in particular
It involves communication between many regions (vACC, amygdala, mPFC)
Of all the five scales used in the study (RSQ, ATQ, HRSD, BDI, DAS), which two were used to primarily measure depressive symptoms?
BDI (Beck Depression Inventory), HRSD (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression)
DAILY DOUBLE
Identify the incorrect option (half) and correct it (full):
The self-reference condition asked participants to judge whether or not each trait word described themselves
The semantic-processing condition asked participants to judge whether or not it was difficult to define each trait word
The other-reference condition asked participants to judge whether or not each trait word was commonly known or used
The other-reference condition asked participants to judge whether or not each trait word was commonly known or used
The other-reference asked participants to judge whether each trait word described Prime Minister of Japan
After the 12 weeks, which group showed an increase in activation to negative stimuli yet a decrease in activation to positive stimuli?
Healthy controls
Why was looking at multiple brain regions seen as a strength of this study design?
Because depression involves maladaptive brain communication between many areas
How is self-referential processing altered in depressed patients? (Think of the theme in depressed people’s thoughts.)
There’s a negative bias or theme
Name any three of the five symptoms that were measured by the researchers (think about what the scales measured BDI, RSQ, ATQ, etc.)
Rumination, depression, automatic thoughts, dysfunctional attitude, distraction.
What was one of the two pieces of exclusion criteria for depressive patients recruited for this particular study?
Current or previous diagnosis of bipolar disorder, or current high risk of suicide, substance abuse, mental retardation, or serious somatic disease)
DAILY DOUBLE
Identify the incorrect option (half) and correct it (full):
There was an increase in MPFC activation in the other-reference condition for the depressive patients
There was an increase in the MPFC and vACC activation to positive stimuli following CBT for depressive patients
At baseline, the depressive patients had higher activation of brain regions for negative stimuli compared to healthy controls
There was an increase in MPFC activation in the other-reference condition for the depressive patients
There was an increase in MPFC activation in the self-reference condition for the depressive patients
After receiving CBT, when presented a negative stimulus, depressed people with the least rumination had the highest changes in ____ activity (region of the brain)
vACC