Emotional Processing: A Key to Depression Treatment?

In my last post I reported on the use of machine learning to aid in predicting response to depression treatment.

Another interesting depression prediction tool is being investigated in a trial in England funded by the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.

This trial uses a visual facial recognition tool. The hypothesis is that early antidepressant action can be identified by changes in facial emotional recognition.

This trial stems from work by Catherine Harmer Ph.D. from the University of Oxford. Her work in this area is highlighted in the free full-text manuscript citation at the end of this post.

In this full-text manuscript the authors review research suggesting antidepressants drug action may be due to the direct effect on emotional processing. 

Clinicians know that clinical recognition of an antidepressant response may take six weeks for a single antidepressant drug. It may be even longer if dosage escalation is needed to test a specific drug.

Facial emotional recognition is a potential earlier marker of antidepressant response. In the review cited below, facial recognition changes as early as two weeks have predicted a positive drug response.

Antidepressant drugs appear to alter emotional processing in healthy non-depressed adults. This may allow for wider screening of new investigational antidepressant drugs.

You can read more about the NHS trial at MedicalXpress HERE.

Click on the PMID link in the citation below for a link to the free full-text review.

Image of limbic system known to be involved in emotional processing is my screen shot from the iPad app 3D Brain.

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Image of brain is my screen shot from the iPad app 3D Brain.

Pringle A, & Harmer CJ (2015). The effects of drugs on human models of emotional processing: an account of antidepressant drug treatment. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 17 (4), 477-87 PMID: 26869848

Neuroethics: The Brain and Political Beliefs

Article first published as Brain Science and Political Belief on Technorati.


Brain science is providing some important insights into the mechanisms involved in a variety of beliefs including political, religious and moral beliefs. Dr. Jordan Grafman, Ph.D. currently with the Kessler Foundation has led some of the key research initiatives in this area of brain research. He recently presented at the May, 2011 Warren Frontiers in Neuroscience lecture series in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I previously posted a summary of work relevant to the brain science and moral beliefs and a separate post on religious beliefs. Here are some of the key points from his presentation related to political beliefs and relevant published research manuscripts.

A important starting point in understanding how the brain processes political beliefs is to discover key elements of these beliefs. The classical description of political beliefs defines individuals long a single criterion domain, conservative to liberal. But statistical modeling of large numbers of individuals demonstrates three key domains for political belief. These domains appear somewhat independent of each other and appear to engage different brain neural circuits. The three domains and localized areas the brain involved include:

• individualism--medial prefrontal cortex and the temperoparietal junction
• conservatism-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
• radicalism-ventral striatum and posterior cingulate

So how does brain circuitry differ between those who are interested in politics compared to those with little interest in the area? Grafman while at his previous NIH position and colleagues from Italy as well as George Mason University in the U.S. examined this question in a series of 25 subjects using functional magnetic imaging scanning technology.

Subjects in the scanner were asked to agree or disagree with a variety of political opinions. Subjects who were interested in politics showed significantly more activation of the brains regions in the amygdala and ventral striatum. Subjects disinterested in politics showed limited activations in these regions regardless of the content of religious beliefs encountered.

The amygdala has been demonstrated to be an important region for processing both positive and negative emotional stimuli. The ventral striatum appears to be a key region in processing reward and positive affect.

The research suggests those with strong political interests, i.e. "political junkies" engage brain circuits involved in emotional and reward reinforcement. Similar circuits appear to be engaged in other individuals by chemical as well and specific environmental stimuli. For example, similar circuits may be activated by religious stimuli in those with strong religious beliefs.

It is unknown exactly how the brain influences each individuals selection of an area of interest and engagement. We do not know why one individual is drawn to a field of technical interest, i.e. computer science rather than a field of social interest such as politics.

But once an individual establishes strong political interest and a strong political belief system brain circuitry effects develop. These circuits appear to not be specific to politics but specific to circuits controlling emotional engagement and reward reinforcement.

Future brain science research is likely to further discover the mechanisms involved in political belief development and maintenance. An ethical challenge is likely to emerge on how these discoveries are used by political parties to influence voter preferences and voter engagement.

Link to Dr. Grafman's website related to his research on traumatic brain injury at the Kessler Foundation.

Zamboni G, Gozzi M, Krueger F, Duhamel JR, Sirigu A, & Grafman J (2009). Individualism, conservatism, and radicalism as criteria for processing political beliefs: a parametric fMRI study. Social neuroscience, 4 (5), 367-83 PMID: 19562629


Gozzi M, Zamboni G, Krueger F, & Grafman J (2010). Interest in politics modulates neural activity in the amygdala and ventral striatum. Human brain mapping, 31 (11), 1763-71 PMID: 20162603


Photo of African Elephant, the symbol of U.S. Republican Party from author's private family collection by photographer Sarah Yates.

Man as Social Animal: TED talk of David Brooks

David Brooks has been a political journalist for the New York Times for many years.  Recently he has developed an interest in cognitive neuroscience and the importance of social factors in philosophy and human life.  Here are my notes from his 18 minute recent TED talk:

Politicians are all "emotional freaks" of one variety or another

They have a "logodementia"--Talk so much they drive their self insane

But they do have exceptional social skills

Mitt Romney anecdote--able to remember names of everyone he met in the diner

However, in making political decisions this social skill is of little assistance

We have made little progress in education

People learn from people they bond with emotionally

Why are politicians dehumanized when talking about policy?

We have pushed out emotion in making decisions about our lives

We have lost the ability to understand the importance of character and we have lost the ability to talk about using our social intelligence

We pressure our children to jump through competitive hoops

We don't emphasize the importance of developing a philosophy of life

Cognitive neuroscience is providing insight into a new way of thinking about life:

1.) The unconscious mind does most of the work--The unconscious mind is quite smart

2.) Emotions are at the center of our thinking (Antonio Dimasio speaking on this issue later in the TED program)--Brain is a record of our entire life feelings

3.) We are deeply social animals-our brain and thinking are connected to those around us

How do we see human capital?

Reason is often week, sentiments are strong and trustworthy

For humans to thrive humans need:

Mind sight--ability to see into the minds of others and understand their thinking (ability to attach to other versus an avoidant att

Equipoise--having the serenity of analyze are our own biases

Street Smarts--ability to pattern recognize and 

Sympathy--the ability to work in groups on common task--group effectiveness not affected by 

Blending--using diverse view points to blend a new way of thinking

Limericks- unconscious mind hungers for moments of transcendance--these moments occur in relationships with our closest relationships

David has a NY Times bestseller book in this topic area: The Social Animal.  I have not read the book and so can not comment on it's merit.  It is on my future reading list as soon as a copy is available at my local public library.

Emotional Processing Bias in Depression

Clinicians and individuals with depression understand the tendency for depression to be associated with over-interpretation of negative cues in the environment.  Depression seems to heighten perception of negative environmental cues including interpersonal (or social) cues.   The cognitive behavioral model of depression emphasizes the cognitive triad—a negative bias (view) of the self, the environment and the future.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging is providing a model to study emotional processing and better understand how this processing may be disturbed in depression.  When shown brief images of emotion-laden faces, subjects suffering from depression show exaggerated responses.  Depressed or angry faces produce heighted amygdala responses in those with depression.  Happy faces produce a blunted amygdala response. 

Teresa Victor and colleagues recently published a study in the American Journal of Psychiatry providing additional information about this emotional processing bias.  (Disclosure:  Dr. Victor is now a neuroscientist with the Laureate Brain Institute-my employer).   She summarized her findings in a recent journal club.  Here are the key findings from her recent research:

• The amygdala response to facial images occurs even with brief subliminal (unconscious) presentations
• Sad facial images activate the amygdala in depressed subjects (compared to controls) in both those with active and remitted depression
• Happy facial images activate the amygdala in controls more than depressed subjects
• Eight weeks of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor therapy (sertraline) reverse  (normalize) the amygdala response to facial emotion cues

 The authors summarize their findings “These data demonstrate that negative emotional-processing biases occur automatically, below the level of conscious awareness, in unmedicated, currently depressed people…”.  “This nonconscious processing of emotional stimuli is consistent with evidence that the amygdala contains cells that are tuned selectively to specific stimulus characteristics, facilitating early detection of biologically salient information”.

The findings from this research suggest exaggerated amygdala responses to sad faces may be a trait marker and not just due to the presence of active depression.  This might allow this trait to be studied as an endophenotype (or potential genetic marker for depression).    Normalization of this exaggerated response with selective serotoning reuptake inhibitors may provide an additional paradigm for studying the effect of new novel antidepressants.

From the clinical standpoint, this study suggests that negative emotional cues may occur below the level of consciousness in the daily lives of those with depression.  It supports clinical experience that some dysphoria may occur in response to environmental cues patients do not remember (or recognize at the time of the cue).   Further study of emotional processing is likely to advance both the research and clinical understanding of depression and other mood disorders. 


Photo of sea gull over beach at Jupiter Island, Florida courtesy of Yates Photography.

Victor TA, Furey ML, Fromm SJ, Ohman A, & Drevets WC (2010). Relationship between amygdala responses to masked faces and mood state and treatment in major depressive disorder. Archives of general psychiatry, 67 (11), 1128-38 PMID: 21041614