Functional MRI of emotional memory in adolescent depression

•Adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and controls were investigated.•Performance and fMRI data were collected during a self-referential memory task.•Neural activation during encoding differed between the groups.•There were differential relationships with age in patients and controls.•Task related neural activation was related to depression severity in patients.

IntroductionMajor Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a leading cause of disease burden worldwide. Mood-congruent biases in memory tasks are frequently reported in MDD patients, with facilitated memory for negative stimuli. Most functional MRI studies to date have examined the neural correlates of these biases in depressed adults, with fewer studies in adolescents with MDD. Investigation of MDD in adolescence may aid greater understanding of the aetiology and development of the disorder.MethodsCognitive biases were investigated in 56 MDD patients aged 11–17 years and a matched group of 30 healthy control participants with a self-referential memory task. Behavioural performance and BOLD fMRI data were collected during both encoding and retrieval stages.ResultsThe neural response to encoding in adolescents with MDD was found to differ significantly from controls. Additionally, neural responses during encoding and retrieval showed differential relationships with age between patient and control groups, specifically in medial, temporal, and prefrontal regions.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that during adolescence neurophysiological activity associated with emotional memory differs in those with depression compared to controls and may be age sensitive.