Project Summary

Brian Knutson, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2003) of Stanford University, notes that emerging evidence suggests that positive emotional processing may play an important role in promoting recovery fromand resilience to depression.  Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Dr. Knutson has developed a model, known as the monetary incentive delay (MID) task, that probes brain function during reward processing.  Participants anticipate, make responses for, and receive various monetary rewards while in the scanner.  Previous results indicate that ventral striatal activity increases in healthy subjects during anticipation of increasing monetary rewards, while mesial prefrontal activity tracks reward outcomes.  In this project, Dr. Knutson will use the MID task to examine reward responsiveness in depressed subjects as compared to healthy controls.  He predicts that the depressed individuals will show diminished activity in these brain regions during anticipation of rewards and when expected rewards are obtained.  The MID task has the potential to be used to track and evaluate treatment progress and to identify patients who may be more or less likely to recover.

Program Area: MOOD DISORDERS\Depression (Unipolar)

Search Again