The role of self-learning biases in predicting antidepressant response
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A neurocognitive investigation of the role of reinforcement learning in updating dysfunctional self-schema in depression: A putative mechanism for antidepressant action?
IRAS ID
240495
Contact name
Catherine Hobbs
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bath
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 4 months, 1 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
Antidepressants have been found to be effective at treating depression. However, patients respond differently to different types of antidepressants. What is effective for one individual, may not work for another. There is also a delay between starting antidepressants and seeing an improvement in mood. It is therefore difficult to tell whether an antidepressant will be effective at an early time-point.
Recent research has suggested that antidepressants may work through reducing emotional biases that are seen in people with depression. Healthy individuals typically show positive biases, for instance greater memory for and attention towards positive words and pictures. Individuals with depression do not show this bias. It is thought that antidepressants may work through reinstating these positive biases, therefore improving mood and reducing depressive symptoms.
However, to date little research has focused on emotional biases related to the self. Positive biases towards the self have been labelled as fundamental for good mental health. Research has shown that healthy individuals prioritise learning of information related to themselves, compared to other people. This is not seen in people with depression. Antidepressants may work through increasing learning of positive information specifically about the self, rather than others.
This study will therefore look at whether learning of information relating to the self, changes during antidepressant treatment, and whether this predicts an improvement in mood. This may allow us to identify whether someone has responded to an antidepressant at an earlier time-point than is currently available.
Patients who are under the care of their GP for depression and are considering antidepressant treatment will be recruited. Participants will complete four research assessments: baseline, 2, 6 and 8 week follow-ups. Dependent on further funding a 6-month follow-up will be conducted. In each assessment participants will complete some computer-based cognitive tasks to measure changes in emotional biases, and questionnaire measures of depression.Summary of Results
This study aimed to look at whether antidepressants change the way people respond to positive and negative information about themselves and others. We predicted that people would become better at learning positive compared to negative information about themselves, and that this would be related to an improvement in depression symptoms.We did not find evidence that better learning of positive versus negative information was related to a change in depression. However, we found that it was related to a decrease in anxiety. On average, participants who became better at learning positive versus negative information about themselves and a friend tended to show more of an improvement in anxiety.
It is possible that antidepressants may reduce anxiety in part by making people more sensitive to positive versus negative information about themselves and familiar others.
REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SW/0287
Date of REC Opinion
31 Dec 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion