Resting frontal brain activity: linkages to maternal depression and socio-economic status among adolescents

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Abstract

We tested the prediction that resting frontal brain asymmetry would be a marker of vulnerability for depression among adolescents. Baseline electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded from 12 to14-year-old adolescents whose mothers had a history of depression (high risk group) and whose mothers were lifetime-free of axis I psychopathology (low risk group). High risk adolescents demonstrated the hypothesized pattern of relative left frontal hypo-activity on alpha-band measures. Such effects were specific to the mid-frontal region and generally consistent across reference montages. Socio-economic status (SES) also predicted alpha asymmetry. When the effects of SES and risk status were jointly assessed, SES contributed unique variance to the prediction of frontal brain asymmetry. The implications of the observed relations among maternal depression, SES, and frontal brain asymmetry are discussed.

Section snippets

Frontal brain asymmetry and depression

In this study, we assessed whether adolescents who are at-risk for depression differ in patterns of resting frontal brain activity when compared to low risk adolescents. We addressed this question because of evidence from a variety of sources indicating a linkage between unipolar depression and decreased activity of left relative to right hemisphere frontal brain regions (for reviews, see Davidson, 1995, Davidson, 1998b; Davidson et al., 2002, Tomarken and Keener, 1998). Consistent with this

Left frontal hypo-activity and vulnerability to depression: children of depressed mothers

Of prime importance in the present context are EEG studies indicating that resting frontal brain asymmetry may indicate heightened vulnerability to depression. For example, two studies have found that currently euthymic individuals who have a history of depression demonstrate left frontal hypo-activity relative to control participants (Allen et al., 1993, Henriques and Davidson, 1990). Unfortunately, studies of individuals with remitted depression cannot distinguish whether left frontal

Relations with socio-economic status

We also assessed the relation between socio-economic status (SES) and frontal brain asymmetry. A number of epidemiological studies have indicated an inverse relation between social class and rates of unipolar depression (Kaplan et al., 1987, Leventhal and Brooks-Gunn, 2000, Murphy et al., 1991, Pearlin and Johnson, 1977, Weissman and Myers, 1978), as well as other psychiatric illnesses (Dohrenwend, 2000, Goodman, 1999, Hollingshead and Redlich, 1958, Rushing and Ortega, 1979, Srole, 1962,

Effects of reference montage

We assessed the relations among risk status, SES, and frontal asymmetry using three different EEG reference montages. There is evidence that the linkages between EEG asymmetry measures and measures of emotion or psychopathology are not always consistent across difference referencing schemes (for reviews, see Davidson, 1998b, Hagemann et al., 1998, Reid et al., 1998). Illustratively, Reid et al. (1998) assessed frontal brain asymmetry in depressed and non-depressed adults and found significant

Participants

Participants were recruited from a larger sample of 240 adolescents and their mothers who were already participating in a study investigating the development of depression in adolescents. This larger sample was 54.2% female, 82% Caucasian, 14.7% African–American, and 3.3% other (Hispanic, Asian, Native American). The sample was pre-dominantly lower-middle class to middle class with a mean SES (Hollingshead, 1975) of 41.84 (S.D.=13.25).

Participants for the larger study were recruited by letters

Depressive symptoms

We examined CDI scores from four of the yearly assessments to examine whether high and low risk participants differed on symptoms of depression prior to or after the EEG recording. Across the two yearly assessments preceding and the two yearly assessments following the EEG session, the mean low risk CDI was 3.9 (S.D.=3.7) and the mean high risk CDI was 4.5 (S.D.=3.4). Thus, both groups clearly scored in the non-depressed range. Separate t-tests on risk status conducted at each of the four time

Primary hypotheses

The primary goal of the present study was to assess whether children of mothers with a history of depression demonstrated relative left frontal hypo-activity when compared to low risk children. Across the three reference montages assessed, analyses supported predictions. The risk status X sex ANOVAs performed on ears referenced and average referenced mid-frontal asymmetry values indicated that high risk participants demonstrated relative left frontal hypo-activity when compared to low risk

Summary and conclusions

In accord with predictions, we found that adolescent offspring of mothers with a history of depression demonstrated relative left frontal hypo-activity relative to low risk adolescents. At least some support for this hypothesis was found across all three reference montages assessed. Such effects were specific to the mid-frontal region. We also found that lower SES predicted greater relative left frontal hypo-activity. This linkage remained significant even when we controlled for maternal

Acknowledgements

This project was funded in part by NIMH grant MH49759 awarded to Andrew J. Tomarken, Ph.D., by a FIRST Award (R29-MH4545801A1) from the National Institute of Mental Health, a Faculty Scholar Award (88-1214-88), and grant (96173096) from the William T. Grant Foundation awarded to Judy Garber. Gabriel Dichter was supported in part from an NIMH training grant (T32-MH18921). We appreciate the cooperation of the Nashville Metropolitan School District, Drs. Binkley and Crouch, and we thank the

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