Alica Dieler

Full member: October 2007 - September 2010

Dissertation title: Suppression of emotional thougths in healthy subjects and patients with MDD.

Abstract:  Various studies have used the so-called 'Think / No-Think' paradigm in combination with functional imaging methods like functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to study brain mechanisms associated with the suppression of previously learned information (e.g. Anderson, 2004; Depue et al., 2007).
These studies have identified that areas within frontal cortex, especially dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DlPFC) and subcortical structures like the hippocampus are recruited and interact during attempts to suppress previously studied materials.
The (dl)PFC has repeatedly been found to show reduced activation in patients suffering from Major Depressive Disorder (e.g. Vollmert at al., 2004; Paulus, 2005). The link between abnormal PFC metabolism and depression was further strengthened through effective treatment of depressed patients with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) of these areas (e.g. Fitzgerald et al., 2002; Paulus, 2005).
One characteristic feature shared by most depressive patients is the so-called  'negativity bias' - a tendency to preferably register and process negative life events and to endlessly ruminate about negative memories and experiences (e.g. Donaldson et al., 2007).
Based on previous studies identifying the PFC as being crucial to suppressing unwanted emotional memories and detecting prefrontal hypometabolism in depressed individuals, I expect that patients will perform worse on an emotional version of the 'Think / No-Think' paradigm, especially when asked to suppress negative materials. This might be interpreted as the biological basis of the 'negativity bias' found in depressed individuals.

Principal investigator:

Prof. Dr. Andreas J. Fallgatter
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

http://www.medizin.uni-tuebingen.de/ukpp/cgi-bin/contray/contray.cgi?DATA=&ID=000011&GROUP=007

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Klinik und Poliklinik für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie
Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie
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