Major depression and the perception of affective instrumental and expressive gestures: an fMRI investigation

Sijtsma, M., Marjoram, D., Gallagher, H. L., Grealy, M. A., Brennan, D., Mathias, C., Cavanagh, J. and Pollick, F. E. (2023) Major depression and the perception of affective instrumental and expressive gestures: an fMRI investigation. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, (doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2023.111728) (In Press)

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with biased perception of human movement. Gesture is important for communication and in this study we investigated neural correlates of gesture perception in MDD. We hypothesised different neural activity between individuals with MDD and typical individuals when viewing instrumental and expressive gestures that were negatively or positively valenced. Differences were expected in brain areas associated with gesture perception, including superior temporal, frontal, and emotion processing regions. We recruited 12 individuals with MDD and 12 typical controls matched on age, gender, and handedness. They viewed gestures displayed by stick figures while functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed. Results of a random effects three-way mixed ANOVA indicated that individuals with MDD had greater activity in the right claustrum compared to controls, regardless of gesture type or valence. Additionally, we observed main effects of gesture type and valence, regardless of group. Perceiving instrumental compared to expressive gestures was associated with greater activity in the left cuneus and left superior temporal gyrus, while perceiving negative compared to positive gestures was associated with greater activity in the right precuneus and right lingual gyrus. We also observed a two-way interaction between gesture type and valence in various brain regions.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: We gratefully acknowledge the funding support from the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland.
• Status: In Press
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Pollick, Professor Frank and Cavanagh, Professor Jonathan and Brennan, Dr David
• Authors: Sijtsma, M., Marjoram, D., Gallagher, H. L., Grealy, M. A., Brennan, D., Mathias, C., Cavanagh, J., and Pollick, F. E.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
• Journal Name: Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0925-4927
• ISSN (Online): 1872-7506
• Published Online: 18 October 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license