The Influence Of Gender And Aging On The Neural Circuitry Supporing Facial Emotion Processing In Adults With Major Depressive Disorder

THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER AND AGING ON THE NEURAL CIRCUITRYSUPPORING FACIAL EMOTION PROCESSING IN ADULTS WITH MAJORDEPRESSIVE DISORDERbyEMILY MARIE BRICEÑOAugust 2013Advisor:Dr. Lisa Jane RapportMajor:Psychology (Clinical)Degree:Doctor of PhilosophyMajor Depressive Disorder (MDD) is associated with decrements in facial emotionprocessing (FEP). Previous studies investigating the neural substrates of these decrements haveoften reported hyperactivity of emotion processing circuitry. Neural circuitry supporting FEP hasbeen shown to be different between healthy men and women, and between young and elderadults. However, no prior studies have investigated how gender and aging affect emotionprocessing circuitry in individuals with MDD. The present study aimed to investigate theinfluence of gender and aging on emotion processing circuitry in MDD. One hundred-ten adults,grouped into subgroups according to MDD status, gender, and age group, completed a facialemotion processing task (FEPT) while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Interactions were revealed between MDD status, gender, and age group in a number ofbrain regions important to emotion processing. These regions included the inferior, middle, andsuperior frontal gyrus, cingulate, and putamen. Within younger adults, women with MDD exhibited hyperactivation of these regions compared to healthy control (HC) women, consistent with prior research. Young men with MDD, however, exhibited hypoactivity of these same