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Attenuated LPP to Emotional Face Stimuli Associated with Parent- and Self-Reported Depression in Children and Adolescents

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Abstract

Individuals diagnosed with a depressive disorder have been found to show reduced reactions to emotional information consistent with the hypothesis of an emotional context insensitivity. However, there are contradictory findings of enhanced reactivity and mood-congruent processing. Electroencephalography (EEG) recordings of the late positive potential (LPP) can display such blunted or enhanced activity. Due to these contradictory findings, there is a need to clarify the role of the LPP in the emergence and presence of depressive disorders especially in children. We used an emotional Go/NoGo task to investigate modulations of the LPP to emotional (fearful, happy, sad) and calm faces in a sample of children and adolescents (age 11;00–14;11) diagnosed with a depressive disorder according to diagnostic parent interviews (K-SADS-PL) (n = 26) compared to a group of age-matched healthy controls (n = 26). LPP positivity was attenuated in children and adolescents with a depressive disorder as well as with higher self-reported depressive symptoms, suggesting reduced reactivity to emotional and calm faces. This is the first study to find generally blunted LPP responses in a clinical sample of depressed youth across reporters. Such dysfunctional modulation of neural activity may represent a potential biomarker for depressive disorders. The results call for further prospective studies investigating the course of the LPP before and after the onset of a depressive disorder in youth.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by LIFE—Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, Universität Leipzig. LIFE is funded by a grant from the European Union, by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by a grant from the Free State of Saxony within the framework of the excellence initiative.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LIFE-Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Madlen Grunewald, Mirko Döhnert, Annette Maria Klein, Kai von Klitzing, Tina Matuschek & Stephanie Stadelmann

  2. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Madlen Grunewald, Mirko Döhnert, Annette Maria Klein, Kai von Klitzing, Tina Matuschek & Stephanie Stadelmann

  3. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany

    Daniel Brandeis

  4. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Daniel Brandeis

  5. Center for Integrative Human Physiology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Daniel Brandeis

  6. Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Daniel Brandeis

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  1. Madlen Grunewald
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  2. Mirko Döhnert
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  6. Tina Matuschek
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  7. Stephanie Stadelmann
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Correspondence to Madlen Grunewald or Mirko Döhnert.

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Grunewald, M., Döhnert, M., Brandeis, D. et al. Attenuated LPP to Emotional Face Stimuli Associated with Parent- and Self-Reported Depression in Children and Adolescents. J Abnorm Child Psychol 47, 109–118 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-0429-3

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