Brooding Is Related to Neural Alterations during Autobiographical Memory Retrieval in Aging.
Brooding rumination is considered a central aspect of depression in midlife. As older people tend to review their past, rumination tendency might be particularly crucial in late life since it might hinder older adults to adequately evaluate previous events. We scanned 22 non-depressed older adults with varying degrees of brooding tendency with functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) while they performed the construction and elaboration of autobiographical memories. Behavioral findings demonstrate that brooders reported lower mood states, needed more time for memory construction and rated their memories as less detailed and less positive. On the neural level, brooding tendency was related to increased amygdala activation during the search for specific memories and reduced engagement of cortical networks during elaboration. Moreover, coupling patterns of the subgenual cingulate cortex with the hippocampus (HC) and the amygdala predicted details and less positive valence of memories in brooders. Our findings support the hypothesis that ruminative thinking interferes with the search for specific memories while facilitating the uncontrolled retrieval of negatively biased self-schemes. The observed neurobehavioral dysfunctions might put older people with brooding tendency at high risk for becoming depressed when reviewing their past. Training of autobiographical memory ability might therefore be a promising approach to increase resilience against depression in late-life.
Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg, Germany.
Sophia
S
Schneider
Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg, Germany.
Stefanie
S
Brassen
emotional memory; late-life depression; rumination; self-referential thinking; subgenual anterior cingulate cortex
Aging Ment Health. 2010 May;14(4):439-49
20455120
Annu Rev Psychol. 2016;67:213-38
26436717
Am J Psychiatry. 2016 Jan;173(1):78-89
26541813
Biol Psychiatry. 2002 May 1;51(9):693-707
11983183
Front Hum Neurosci. 2012 Sep 19;6:257
23049507
Neuropsychologia. 2007 Oct 1;45(13):2883-901
17675110
Front Behav Neurosci. 2013 May 21;7:41
23734107
Neuropsychologia. 2003;41(3):334-40
12457758
Hippocampus. 2004;14(6):752-62
15318333
J Aging Res. 2012;2012:267327
22500227
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2010 Dec;10(4):470-8
21098808
Cogn Emot. 2013;27(2):245-62
22780327
Psychophysiology. 2015 May;52(5):722-5
25512247
J Abnorm Psychol. 2011 May;120(2):259-71
21553940
Biol Psychiatry. 2011 Jul 15;70(2):131-7
21183158
Psychol Med. 2015 Apr;45(5):1001-9
25162634
PLoS One. 2014 Aug 05;9(8):e104180
25093459
J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 1994 Mar;25(1):49-59
7962581
J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2012 Feb;40(2):317-26
21826445
Cereb Cortex. 2009 Sep;19(9):2001-12
19150922
J Abnorm Psychol. 1991 Nov;100(4):569-82
1757671
Hum Brain Mapp. 2015 Dec;36(12 ):5018-37
26350954
J Cogn Neurosci. 2007 May;19(5):776-98
17488204
Science. 2012 May 4;336(6081):612-4
22517323
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Jul 14;112(28):8567-72
26124129
J Affect Disord. 2014 Jun;162:8-11
24766997
Biol Psychiatry. 2009 Mar 1;65(5):361-6
19058792
Neuropsychologia. 2005;43(5):659-74
15721179
Neuropsychologia. 2006;44(12):2189-208
16806314
J Abnorm Psychol. 2000 Aug;109(3):504-11
11016119
Psychol Rev. 2010 Jan;117(1):32-60
20063963
Trends Cogn Sci. 2014 Nov;18(11):596-604
25060510
J Youth Adolesc. 2015 Apr;44(4):806-18
24449170
Psychol Aging. 2005 Dec;20(4):657-70
16420140
Mol Psychiatry. 2013 Sep;18(9):963-74
23439482
Assessment. 2009 Dec;16(4):315-27
19667138
Psychol Aging. 2014 Mar;29(1):1-15
24660792
J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2009 Mar;40(1):24-38
18407245
Biol Psychiatry. 2013 Jul 1;74(1):40-7
23399372
Psychol Bull. 2007 Jan;133(1):122-48
17201573
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2012 Mar;1251:E1-24
23025352
Neuropsychologia. 2009 Sep;47(11):2305-13
19524094
Neuropsychologia. 2011 Oct;49(12):3164-77
21803063
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2005 Jun;5(2):156-68
16180622
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2008 Mar;16(3):248-9
18310555
Front Psychol. 2013 Jun 06;4:293
23761770
J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2012 Dec;43(4):1002-7
22561051
Hum Brain Mapp. 2014 Jul;35(7):3302-13
25050426
Psychol Rev. 2000 Apr;107(2):261-88
10789197
Curr Opin Neurobiol. 1997 Apr;7(2):217-27
9142752
Neurobiol Aging. 2012 Jul;33(7):1298-310
21190759
Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2006 Apr;16(2):179-90
16564688
J Abnorm Psychol. 2014 Feb;123(1):35-48
24661157
Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Aug 15;64(4):349-55
18440493
Psychol Bull. 2013 Sep;139(5):1036-61
23244316
Trends Cogn Sci. 2007 May;11(5):219-27
17382578
Cereb Cortex. 2015 May;25(5):1297-305
24275829
Biol Psychiatry. 2015 Aug 15;78(4):224-30
25861700
Biol Psychiatry. 2013 Dec 15;74(12):898-907
23910949
Biogerontology. 2014;15(5):439-48
25033986
Science. 2006 Jun 30;312(5782):1913-5
16809530
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1999 Feb;76(2):270-83
10074709
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1988 Jun;54(6):1063-70
3397865