spacer

spacer

spacer

spacer

Altered reward processing in the orbitofrontal cortex and hippocampus in healthy first-degree relatives of patients with depression

Macoveanu J, Knorr U, Skimminge A, Søndergaard MHG, Jørgensen A, Faurholt-Jepsen M, Paulson OB, Knudsen GM, Siebner HR and Kessing LV

2014

cc
Healthy first-degree relatives of patients with major depression (rMD+) show brain structure and functional response anomalies and have elevated risk for developing depression, a disorder linked to abnormal serotonergic neurotransmission and reward processing. Method In a two-step functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) investigation, we first evaluated whether positive and negative monetary outcomes were differentially processed by rMD+ individuals compared to healthy first-degree relatives of control probands (rMD-). Second, in a double-blinded placebo-controlled randomized trial we investigated whether a 4-week intervention with the selective serotonergic reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) escitalopram had a normalizing effect on behavior and brain responses of the rMD+ individuals.
cc