title: Rumination in major depressive disorder is associated with impaired neural activation during conflict monitoring.
abstract: Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) often ruminate about past experiences, especially those with negative content. These repetitive thoughts may interfere with cognitive processes related to attention and conflict monitoring. However, the temporal nature of these processes as reflected in event-related potentials (ERPs) has not been well-described. We examined behavioral and ERP indices of conflict monitoring during a modified flanker task and the allocation of attention during an attentional blink (AB) task in 33 individuals with MDD and 36 healthy controls, and whether their behavioral performance and ERPs varied with level of rumination. N2 amplitude elicited by the flanker task was significantly reduced in participants with MDD compared to healthy controls. Level of self-reported rumination was also correlated with N2 amplitude. In contrast, P3 amplitude during the AB task was not significantly different between groups, nor was it correlated with rumination. No significant differences were found in behavioral task performance measures between groups or by rumination levels. These findings suggest that rumination in MDD is associated with select deficits in cognitive control, particularly related to conflict monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise Science and Sport Studies, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Brandon L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Alderman
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise Science and Sport Studies, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ, USA ; Department of Nutritional Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Ryan L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.affiliation: Center of Alcohol Studies, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Marsha E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Bates
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Edward A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Selby
authors.affiliation: Center of Alcohol Studies, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Buckman
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise Science and Sport Studies, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Brush
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Emily A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Panza
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kranzler
authors.affiliation: Center of Alcohol Studies, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Eddie
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Tracey J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Shors
keywords: N2; P3; anterior cingulate cortex; cognitive control; depression; dorsolateral prefrontal cortex