Potential Biomarker for Depression Risk Identified

High reward-related activity in the ventral striatum could protect individuals who experience sleep disturbances from developing depression, according to the findings of a recent study.

The study included 1129 university students (n = 637 women) who completed a reward-related functional magnetic imaging task, which was used to assess the activity of the ventral striatum. Sleep was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and depression symptoms were assessed using a summation of the General Distress/Depression, and the Anhedonic Depression subscales of the Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire-short form.
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Overall, depression symptoms associated with poor sleep decreased as activity in the ventral striatum increased. This interaction between the ventral striatum and sleep remained robust after the inclusions of sex, age, race/ethnicity, past or present clinical disorder, early or recent life stress, and anxiety symptoms, as well as the interaction between ventral striatum activity and early or recent life stress covariates.

“We provide initial evidence that high reward-related [ventral striatum] activity may buffer against depressive symptoms associated with poor sleep,” the researchers concluded. “Our analyses help advance an emerging literature supporting the importance of individual differences in reward-related brain function as a potential biomarker of relative risk for depression.”

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Avinun R, Nevo A, Knodt AR, et al. Reward-related ventral striatum activity buffers against the experience of depressive symptoms associated with sleep disturbances [published online September 18, 2017]. J Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1734-17.2017.