Resting frontal brain activity: linkages to maternal depression and socio-economic status among adolescents
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
References (113)
- et al.
Regional electroencephalographic asymmetries in bipolar seasonal affective disorder before and after exposure to bright light
Biological Psychiatry
(1993) - et al.
EEG development of healthy boys and girls. Results of a longitudinal study
Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology
(1984) - et al.
An electrode cap tested
Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology
(1982) - et al.
While a phobic waits: regional brain electrical and autonomic activity in social phobics during anticipation of public speaking
Biological Psychiatry
(2000) - et al.
The role of frontal lobe functioning in the development of infant self-regulatory behavior
Brain Cognition
(1992) - et al.
Effects of sleep deprivation on the limbic system and the frontal lobes in affective disorders: a study with Tc-99m-HMPAO SPECT
Psychiatry Research
(1991) - et al.
Prenatal stress increases anxiety related behavior and alters cerebral lateralization of dopamine activity
Life Science
(1988) - et al.
Development of the EEG of school-age children and adolescents. I. Analysis of band power
Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology
(1988) - et al.
The effects of maternal depression on children
Clinical Psychology Review
(1990) Gender differences in depression: perspectives from neuropsychology
Journal of Affective Disorder
(1993)
Development of the EEG from 5 months to 4 years of age
Clinical Neurophysiology
The assessment and analysis of handedness: the Edinburgh inventory
Neuropsychologia
Retrospective assessment of prepubertal major depression with the Kiddie-SADS-e
Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry
Rapid-rate transcranial magnetic stimulation of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in drug-resistant depression
Lancet
The relationship between poststroke depression and lesion location in long-term follow-up
Biological Psychiatry
The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Reduction of prefrontal cortex glucose metabolism common to three types of depression
Archives of General Psychiatry
The anatomy of melancholia—focal abnormalities of cerebral blood flow in major depression
Psychological Medicine
Measuring socioeconomic status: reliability and preliminary validity for different approaches
Assessment
A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales
Educational and Psychological Measurement
Testing mediational models with longitudinal data: Questions and tips in the use of structural equation modeling
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
EEG spectra in children aged 8, 9 and 10 years. Reference values
Journal of Neurology
Depression among patients with stroke
Acta Psychiatry Scandinavica
EEG measures of cerebral asymmetry: conceptual and methodological issues
The International Journal of Neuroscience
Affective style and affective disorders: perspectives from affective neuroscience
Cognition and Emotion
Anterior electrophysiological asymmetries, emotion, and depression: conceptual and methodological conundrums
Psychophysiology
Depression: perspectives from affective neuroscience
Annual Review of Psychology
Effects of lateralized presentations of faces on self-reports of emotion and EEG asymmetry in depressed and non-depressed subjects
Psychophysiology
Infants of depressed mothers exhibit atypical frontal brain activity: a replication and extension of previous findings
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Infants of depressed mothers exhibit atypical frontal electrical brain activity during interactions with mother and with a familiar, nondepressed adult
Child Development
Frontal brain electrical activity in infants of depressed and nondepressed mothers: relation to variations in infant behavior
Development and Psychopathology
Frontal lobe activity and affective behavior of infants of mothers with depressive symptoms
Child Development
Socialization mediators of the relation between socioeconomic status and child conduct problems
Child Development
The role of adversity and stress in psychopathology: some evidence and its implications for theory and research
Journal of Health and Social Behavior
Children of depressed parents: an integrative review
Psychological Bulletin
Comparison of measures of socioeconomic status between ethnic groups
Psychological Reports
Relative frontal EEG activation in 3- to 6-month-old infants of “depressed” mothers
Development and Psychology
Social class, mental illness, and social mobility: the social selection-drift hypothesis for serious mental illness
Journal of Health and Social Behavior
If it’s not left, it’s right. Electroencephalograph asymmetry and the development of emotion
American Psychologist
In defense of multiplicative terms in multiple regression equations
American Journal of Political Science
Mood improvement following daily left prefrontal repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in patients with depression: a placebo-controlled crossover trial
American Journal of Psychiatry
Cited by (119)
The association of maternal-infant interactive behavior, dyadic frontal alpha asymmetry, and maternal anxiety in a smartphone-adapted still face paradigm
2024, Developmental Cognitive NeuroscienceNeuroscience for Clinicians: Translational Clinical Neuroscience to Inspire Clinical Practice and Research
2022, Comprehensive Clinical Psychology, Second EditionBiosensors and Biofeedback in Clinical Psychology
2022, Comprehensive Clinical Psychology, Second EditionResting frontal EEG asymmetry patterns in adolescents with and without major depression
2018, Biological Psychology