title: A review of fMRI studies during visual emotive processing in major depressive disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This review synthesized literature on brain activity, indexed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), during visual affective information processing in major depressive disorder (MDD). Activation was examined in regions consistently implicated in emotive processing, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), prefrontal cortex (PFC), amygdala, thalamus/basal ganglia and hippocampus. We also reviewed the effects of antidepressant interventions on brain activity during emotive processing.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-four fMRI studies investigating neural activity during visual emotive information processing in MDD were included.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Evidence indicates increased ventro-rostral ACC activity to emotive stimuli and perhaps decreased dorsal ACC activity in MDD. Findings are inconsistent for the PFC, though medial PFC hyperactivity tends to emerge to emotive information processing in the disorder. Depressed patients display increased amygdala activation to negative and arousing stimuli. MDD may also be associated with increased activity to negative, and decreased activity to positive, stimuli in basal ganglia/thalamic structures. Finally, there may be increased hippocampus activation during negative information processing. Typically, antidepressant interventions normalize these activation patterns.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In general, depressed patients have increased activation to emotive, especially negative, visual stimuli in regions involved in affective processing, with the exception of certain PFC regions; this pattern tends to normalize with treatment.
authors.affiliation: a Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research & Education, Department of Psychiatry , University of Calgary , Calgary , AB , Canada.|b Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI), University of Calgary , AB , Canada.|c Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI), University of Calgary , AB , Canada.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jaworska
authors.affiliation: a Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research & Education, Department of Psychiatry , University of Calgary , Calgary , AB , Canada.|c Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI), University of Calgary , AB , Canada.
authors.forename: Xiao-Ru
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: d University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research (IMHR) , Ottawa , ON , Canada.
authors.forename: Verner
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Knott
authors.affiliation: a Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research & Education, Department of Psychiatry , University of Calgary , Calgary , AB , Canada.|b Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI), University of Calgary , AB , Canada.
authors.forename: Glenda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: MacQueen
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000503:physiopathology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000503:physiopathology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000503:physiopathology; D014796:Visual Perception
keywords: antidepressant; depression; emotion; gender; imaging