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Dal Bò E, Cecchetto C, Callara AL, Greco A, Mura F, Vanello N, Di Francesco F, Scilingo EP, Gentili C. Emotion perception through the nose: how olfactory emotional cues modulate the perception of neutral facial expressions in affective disorders. Transl Psychiatry 2024; 14:342. [PMID: 39181892 PMCID: PMC11344772 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-03038-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2023] [Revised: 07/17/2024] [Accepted: 07/24/2024] [Indexed: 08/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Humans can decode emotional states from the body odors of the conspecifics and this type of emotional communication is particularly relevant in conditions in which social interactions are impaired, as in depression and social anxiety. The present study aimed to explore how body odors collected in happiness and fearful conditions modulate the subjective ratings, the psychophysiological response and the neural processing of neutral faces in individuals with depressive symptoms, social anxiety symptoms, and healthy controls (N = 22 per group). To this aim, electrocardiogram (ECG) and HD-EEG were recorded continuously. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) was extracted from the ECG as a measure of vagal tone, event-related potentials (ERPs) and event-related spectral perturbations (ERPSs) were extracted from the EEG. The results revealed that the HRV increased during the fear and happiness body odors conditions compared to clean air, but no group differences emerged. For ERPs data, repeated measure ANOVA did not show any significant effects. However, the ERPSs analyses revealed a late increase in delta power and a reduced beta power both at an early and a late stage of stimulus processing in response to the neutral faces presented with the emotional body odors, regardless of the presence of depressive or social anxiety symptoms. The current research offers new insights, demonstrating that emotional chemosignals serve as potent environmental cues. This represents a substantial advancement in comprehending the impact of emotional chemosignals in both individuals with and without affective disorders.
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Grants
- 824153 EC | Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020)
- 824153 EC | Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020)
- 824153 EC | Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020)
- 824153 EC | Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020)
- 824153 EC | Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020)
- 824153 EC | Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020)
- 824153 EC | Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020)
- DM 11/05/2017 n. 262 Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (Ministry of Education, University and Research)
- European Union - Next Generation EU, in the context of The National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Investment 1.5 Ecosystems of Innovation, Project Tuscany Health Ecosystem (THE), Spoke 3 "Advanced technologies, methods, materials and heath analytics " CUP: I53C22000780001
- PNRR - M4C2 - Investimento 1.3, Partenariato Esteso PE00000013 - “FAIR - Future Artificial Intelligence Research” - Spoke 1 “Human-centered AI”, funded by the European Commission under the NextGeneration EU programme.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Dal Bò
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
| | - Cinzia Cecchetto
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Alejandro Luis Callara
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Research Center "E. Piaggio", University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Alberto Greco
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Research Center "E. Piaggio", University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Francesca Mura
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Nicola Vanello
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Research Center "E. Piaggio", University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Fabio Di Francesco
- Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Enzo Pasquale Scilingo
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Research Center "E. Piaggio", University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Claudio Gentili
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
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Moretta T, Messerotti Benvenuti S. Familial risk for depression is associated with reduced P300 and late positive potential to affective stimuli and prolonged cardiac deceleration to unpleasant stimuli. Sci Rep 2023; 13:6432. [PMID: 37081143 PMCID: PMC10119159 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33534-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite evidence of abnormal affective processing as a key correlate of depression, specific attentional mechanisms underlying processing of emotions in familial risk for depression have yet to be investigated in a single study. To this end, the amplitude of the P300 and late positive potential (LPP) complex and cardiac deceleration were assessed during the passive viewing of affective pictures in 32 individuals who had family history of depression (without depressive symptoms) and in 30 controls (without depressive symptoms and family history of depression). Individuals with familial risk for depression revealed reduced P300-LPP amplitudes in response to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli relative to controls, and comparable P300-LPP amplitudes in response to pleasant and neutral stimuli. Controls, but not individuals with familial risk for depression, reported cardiac deceleration during the viewing of pleasant vs. neutral and unpleasant stimuli in the 0-3 s time window. Also, only individuals with familial risk for depression showed a prolonged cardiac deceleration in response to unpleasant vs. neutral stimuli. Overall, the present study provides new insights into the characterization of emotion-related attentional processes in familial risk for depression as potential vulnerability factors for the development of the disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tania Moretta
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia, 8, 35131, Padua, Italy.
| | - Simone Messerotti Benvenuti
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia, 8, 35131, Padua, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Hospital Psychology Unit, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy
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Grèzes J, Risch N, Courtet P, Olié E, Mennella R. Depression and approach-avoidance decisions to emotional displays: The role of anhedonia. Behav Res Ther 2023; 164:104306. [PMID: 37043847 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2023.104306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Revised: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 03/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/31/2023]
Abstract
Depression is linked to dysfunctional appetitive and aversive motivational systems and effort-based decision-making, yet whether such deficits extend to social decisions remains unclear. Participants (23 non-depressed, 48 depressed - 24 with a past history of suicide attempt) completed a social decision-making task consisting in freely choosing whether to approach or avoid individuals displaying happy or angry expressions. Occasionally, participants had to make a further effort (change button press) to obtain the desired outcome. All participants preferentially avoided anger on their first choice. Yet, depressed patients less often chose to approach happy individuals, as a function of anhedonia severity. Depressed patients were also less inclined than controls to change their response when the anticipated outcome of their first choice was undesirable (approach angry and avoid happy). Again, such effect correlated with anhedonia severity. Our results support that both altered valuation and willingness to exert effort impact approach-avoidance decisions in social contexts in depression. On this basis, we propose a new integrating framework for reconciling different hypotheses on the effect of depression and anhedonia on motivational responses to emotional stimuli.
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Dell’Acqua C, Palomba D, Patron E, Messerotti Benvenuti S. Rethinking the risk for depression using the RDoC: A psychophysiological perspective. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1108275. [PMID: 36814670 PMCID: PMC9939768 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1108275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Considering that the classical categorical approach to mental disorders does not allow a clear identification of at-risk conditions, the dimensional approach provided by the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) is useful in the exploration of vulnerability to psychopathology. In the RDoC era, psychophysiological models have an important role in the reconceptualization of mental disorders. Indeed, progress in the study of depression vulnerability has increasingly been informed by psychophysiological models. By adopting an RDoC lens, this narrative review focuses on how psychophysiological models can be used to advance our knowledge of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying depression vulnerability. Findings from psychophysiological research that explored multiple RDoC domains in populations at-risk for depression are reviewed and discussed. Future directions for the application of psychophysiological research in reaching a more complete understanding of depression vulnerability and, ultimately, improving clinical utility, are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carola Dell’Acqua
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy,Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy,*Correspondence: Carola Dell’Acqua, ✉
| | - Daniela Palomba
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy,Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | | | - Simone Messerotti Benvenuti
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy,Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy,Hospital Psychology Unit, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy
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Dell’Acqua C, Mura F, Messerotti Benvenuti S, Patron E, Palomba D. Reduced heart rate variability and expressive suppression interact to prospectively predict COVID-19 pandemic-related post-traumatic stress symptoms. Sci Rep 2022; 12:21311. [PMID: 36494439 PMCID: PMC9734110 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25915-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic is a unique period of stress that, in some cases, led to post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs). Emotion regulation strategies are known to modulate the emotional response to stressful events. Expressive suppression (ES) is a maladaptive strategy related to the exacerbation of the physiological stress response. Heart rate variability (HRV), an index of cardiac autonomic balance strictly related to ES, was also shown to predict PTSSs. This was the first study to investigate whether the pre-pandemic ES use and resting-state HRV predicted pandemic-related PTSSs. Before the pandemic, 83 (58 females) university students completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), self-report measures of anxiety and depressive symptoms, and a three-minute resting-state electrocardiogram recording. After 12 months, 61 (45 females) participants completed a self-report measure of pandemic-related PTSSs and repeated the self-report psychological measures. Pre-pandemic anxiety symptoms prospectively predicted greater PTSSs. Moreover, a significant interaction between HRV and ES in predicting PTSSs emerged, whereby those who had higher levels of ES and reduced HRV showed higher PTSSs. These findings suggest that an integrated assessment of HRV and ES might be useful for identifying individuals who are more vulnerable to the development of PTSSs during crises.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carola Dell’Acqua
- grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia, 8, 35131 Padua, Italy ,grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Francesca Mura
- grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia, 8, 35131 Padua, Italy ,grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Simone Messerotti Benvenuti
- grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia, 8, 35131 Padua, Italy ,grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy ,grid.411474.30000 0004 1760 2630Hospital Psychology Unit, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Patron
- grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia, 8, 35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Daniela Palomba
- grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia, 8, 35131 Padua, Italy ,grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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Early indicators of vulnerability to depression: The role of rumination and heart rate variability. J Affect Disord 2022; 312:217-224. [PMID: 35760196 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.06.049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2022] [Revised: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite the evidence of increased levels of rumination and reduced heart rate variability (HRV) in depression, whether these measures can be considered early indicators of vulnerability to depression has yet to be investigated. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate both levels of rumination and resting HRV in individuals with familial risk for depression that is the most reliable risk factor for the disorder. METHODS Rumination and vagally-mediated HRV were assessed using the Ruminative Response Scale and a smartphone-based photoelectric volumetric pulse wave assay, respectively, in 25 individuals who had family history of depression (but did not report current depressive symptoms), 15 individuals who reported depressive symptoms (but had no family history of depression), and 25 controls (without depressive symptoms and family history of depression). RESULTS Individuals with depressive symptoms and those with a family history of depression were characterized by higher levels of rumination and lower cardiac vagal control than controls. LIMITATIONS Given the small sample size, this study should be used to design larger confirmatory studies; the cross-sectional nature of the study does not allow discussing the results in terms of cause-effect relationships. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggested that individuals at risk of developing depression, also in absence of depressive symptoms, are defined by defective self-regulation capacity that may lead to future depression episodes. Increased ruminative thoughts and reduced HRV may represent early indicators of vulnerability to depression. Effective prevention programs designed to reduce rumination and/or increase HRV may reduce the risk of developing a full-blown depressive episode.
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Dell'Acqua C, Dal Bò E, Moretta T, Palomba D, Messerotti Benvenuti S. EEG time-frequency analysis reveals blunted tendency to approach and increased processing of unpleasant stimuli in dysphoria. Sci Rep 2022; 12:8161. [PMID: 35581359 PMCID: PMC9113991 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12263-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
To date, affective and cognitive processing of emotional information in individuals with depressive symptoms have been examined through peripheral psychophysiological measures, event-related potentials, and time–frequency analysis of oscillatory activity. However, electrocortical correlates of emotional and cognitive processing of affective content in depression have not been fully understood. Time–frequency analysis of electroencephalographic activity allows disentangling the brain's parallel processing of information. The present study employed a time–frequency approach to simultaneously examine affective disposition and cognitive processing during the viewing of emotional stimuli in dysphoria. Time–frequency event-related changes were examined during the viewing of pleasant, neutral and unpleasant pictures in 24 individuals with dysphoria and 24 controls. Affective disposition was indexed by delta and alpha power, while theta power was employed as a correlate of cognitive elaboration of the stimuli. Cluster-based statistics revealed a centro-parietal reduction in delta power for pleasant stimuli in individuals with dysphoria relative to controls. Also, dysphoria was characterized by an early fronto-central increase in theta power for unpleasant stimuli relative to neutral and pleasant ones. Comparatively, controls were characterized by a late fronto-central and occipital reduction in theta power for unpleasant stimuli relative to neutral and pleasant. The present study granted novel insights on the interrelated facets of affective elaboration in dysphoria, mainly characterized by a hypoactivation of the approach-related motivational system and a sustained facilitated cognitive processing of unpleasant stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carola Dell'Acqua
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padua, Italy. .,Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Via Orus 2/B, 35131, Padua, Italy.
| | - Elisa Dal Bò
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padua, Italy.,Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Via Orus 2/B, 35131, Padua, Italy
| | - Tania Moretta
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padua, Italy
| | - Daniela Palomba
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padua, Italy.,Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Via Orus 2/B, 35131, Padua, Italy
| | - Simone Messerotti Benvenuti
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padua, Italy.,Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Via Orus 2/B, 35131, Padua, Italy
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Reduced electrocortical responses to pleasant pictures in depression: A brief report on time-domain and time-frequency delta analyses. Biol Psychol 2022; 170:108302. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Revised: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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