The “Brightening” Effect: Reactions to Positive Events in the Daily Lives of Individuals With Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Depressed individuals are less reactive than healthy individuals to positive stimuli in the laboratory, but accumulating evidence suggests that they are more emotionally reactive to positive events in their daily lives. The present study probed the boundaries of this curious “mood brightening” effect and investigated its specificity to major depressive disorder (MDD) vis-à-vis generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), its closest boundary condition. We used ecological momentary assessment to measure reactions to positive events over one week in individuals with MDD (n = 38), GAD (n = 36), comorbid MDD-GAD (n = 38), and no psychopathology (n = 33). Depressed individuals responded to positive events with larger changes in affect, cognition, reported withdrawal (but not approach) behavior, and symptoms than healthy controls. More severe depression assessed before the sampling week predicted greater brightening. Altered reactivity to positive events was relatively specific to MDD when compared with GAD, similar to patterns found for other positive emotional processes. The robustness, scope, and relative specificity of the brightening effect highlights the need to resolve conflicting findings across laboratory and non-laboratory studies to advance understanding of altered reactivity in emotional disorders.     

社会快感缺失认知过程的跨诊断研究进展

社会快感缺失具有广泛的跨诊断和亚临床特征,包括孤独感、内向性、社交焦虑和社会功能受损等。传统医学模型聚焦于社会快感缺失相关疾病的诊断和神经生理机制,促进了社会快感缺失药物和神经靶向治疗。然而社会快感缺失广泛地存在于健康人群和亚临床人群中,只有寻找有效的心理咨询和治疗方案,才会对亚临床人群社会快感缺失的缓解和社会功能的提升提供帮助。认知过程模型聚焦于积极效价系统,强调对积极奖赏刺激注意、记忆、心理意象等认知过程的提升,该模型将是社会快感缺失心理咨询与治疗的有效途径。     

Variations in selective and nonselective prediction error with the negative dimension of schizotypy

Two human associative-learning experiments investigated the relationship between the negative dimension of schizotypy and selective and nonselective prediction-error learning. Experiment 1 demonstrates that individuals low, but not high, on the introvertive anhedonia dimension of schizotypy demonstrate Kamin blocking, which has been taken to reflect the operation of selective learning (Rescorla & Wagner, 1972). In complement, Experiment 2 demonstrates that individuals high, but not low, on the same dimension demonstrate asymmetrical learning about the components of a compound stimulus that differ in their associative history, which has been suggested to reflect the operation of nonselective learning (Rescorla, 2000). The implications of this double dissociation for understanding the nature of the cognitive deficit in schizophrenia and for theories of learning are considered.     

音乐愉悦体验的神经机制

愉悦情绪体验是音乐活动中最普遍的心理现象。通过系统回顾相关的神经科学研究, 认为音乐愉悦体验与大脑奖赏系统的活动有关, 并涉及伏隔核与听觉皮层等其他脑区的交互。在这个过程中, 多巴胺的传递与音乐愉悦体验存在因果联系。基于预期视角, 奖赏预测误差理论和音乐信息理论模型可以解释音乐愉悦体验的产生机制。未来研究应进一步检验伏隔核及各皮层在音乐愉悦体验中的功能, 并整合不同的预期理论。     

抑郁症的内表现型:快感缺失及其测量方法

快感缺失,指的是体验快乐的能力下降,广泛出现在抑郁症中,但同时也是其他如精神分裂症的重要症状。虽然快感缺失在精神病理学上非常重要,但较少受到研究重视。文章探讨了抑郁症和快感缺失的关系以及快感缺失个体的大脑奖励系统受损的神经机制,同时介绍了快感缺失可以进一步区分为期待性和消费性两种损害类型以及研究所用的主客观测量方法。指出快感缺失作为抑郁症最有可能的内表现型及其对疾病发展的作用,需要进一步研究深入。