Cognitive Control Dysfunction in Emotion Dysregulation and Psychopathology of Major Depression (MD): Evidence from Transcranial Brain Stimulation of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC)

Abstract Background With a high lifetime prevalence, major depression (MD) is a serious public health issue. Previous studies have shown that MD is associated with a variety of cognitive deficits namely the executive functions (EF), which can persist even in remitted states. However, the role of cog...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of affective disorders 2017-03, Vol.210, p.241-248
Main Authors: Salehinejad, Mohammad Ali, Ghanavai, Elham, Rostami, Reza, Nejati, Vahid
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Attention - physiology
Cognition
Cognition - physiology
Cognitive Dysfunction - physiopathology
Depressive Disorder, Major - psychology
Depressive Disorder, Major - therapy
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)
Emotion
Emotions - physiology
Executive Function - physiology
Executive functions
Female
Humans
Major depression (MD)
Male
Memory, Short-Term - physiology
Prefrontal Cortex - physiopathology
Psychiatry
Psychopathology
tDCS
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation - methods
Young Adult
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Summary:Abstract Background With a high lifetime prevalence, major depression (MD) is a serious public health issue. Previous studies have shown that MD is associated with a variety of cognitive deficits namely the executive functions (EF), which can persist even in remitted states. However, the role of cognitive impairments in MD psychopathology and treatment is not fully understood. This article aims to discuss how EF (e.g., Working memory and attention) mediates MD psychopathology considering the role of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dLPFC) and present findings of a brain stimulation experiment to support this notion. Methods The effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the dLPFC on enhancing cognitive control functions was investigated. Twenty-four patients with MD (Experimental group = 12, Control group = 12) received 10 sessions of tDCS (2 mA for 30 min) over 10 consecutive days. The experimental group received active stimulation and the control group received sham stimulation. Participant's performance on cognitive functions (PAL, SRM, RVP and CRT from CANTAB) and their depression scores were assessed before and after tDCS. Results Results showed that brain stimulation of the dLPFC improved cognitive dysfunction in patients and a significant improvement on depression scores was also observed suggesting that cognitive control dysfunction may be a mediator in emotional dysregulation and psychopathology in MD. Limitations No follow-up investigation was done in this study which does not allow to infer long-term effect of tDCS. Low-focality of tDCS might have stimulated adjacent areas too. Conclusion Cognitive components, namely the cognitive control dysfunction, play role in MD psychopathology as they are involved in emotion dysregulation in MD. But the amount of contribution of cognitive components in MD psychopathology is still an open question. tDCS could be used as an intervention to improve cognitive dysfunction in MD.
ISSN:0165-0327
1573-2517
DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2016.12.036