Cited by 1,579Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorTreatment of Major DepressionNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Reconsidering anhedonia in depression: Lessons from translational neuroscience

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Treadway, Michael T., Zald, David H.·2011·Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

Abstract

Anhedonia is a core symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD), the neurobiological mechanisms of which remain poorly understood. Despite decades of speculation regarding the role of dopamine (DA) in anhedonic symptoms, empirical evidence has remained elusive, with frequent reports of contradictory findings. In the present review, we argue that this has resulted from an underspecified definition of anhedonia, which has failed to dissociate between consummatory and motivational aspects of reward behavior. Given substantial preclinical evidence that DA is involved primarily in motivational aspects of reward, we suggest that a refined definition of anhedonia that distinguishes between deficits in pleasure and motivation is essential for the purposes of identifying its neurobiological substrates. Moreover, bridging the gap between preclinical and clinical models of anhedonia may require moving away from the conceptualization of anhedonia as a steady-state, mood-like phenomena. Consequently, we introduce the term "decisional anhedonia" to address the influence of anhedonia on reward decision-making. These proposed modifications to the theoretical definition of anhedonia have implications for research, assessment and treatment of MDD.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2010.06.006

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  • Anhedonia and impaired reward circuit pathways are associated with a poorer prognosis and suboptimal treatment response.

    “Anhedonia and impaired reward circuit pathways are associated with a poorer prognosis and suboptimal treatment response (Buckner et al., 2008;Uher et al., 2012;Treadway and Zald, 2011).”

    From Effectiveness of Vortioxetine on Emotional Blunting in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder with inadequate response to SSRI/SNRI treatment (2021) · cites this paper as Treadway and Zald, 2011

    The Introduction (page unavailable) says anhedonic symptoms predict poor treatment response and that first-line treatments may not adequately address reward-processing deficits. It also describes reward-circuit abnormalities in depression, but does not establish that those abnormalities predict poorer prognosis or treatment response. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Studies of the neurobiology of reward processing have identified separate subtypes of anhedonia: consummatory, anticipatory, motivational, and decisional.

    “studies of the neurobiology of reward processing have highlighted the variety of distinct pathways involved in its different aspects resulting in the recognition of separate subtypes of anhedonia, including consummatory, anticipatory, motivational and decisional [20,21].”

    From Prefrontal cortex and depression (2022) · cites this paper as [20]

    The Research Highlights (section 6; page unavailable) propose motivational and consummatory anhedonia and introduce decisional anhedonia. Section 2.2 discusses anticipatory pleasure but says it is unclear whether that is the same construct as reward motivation; the paper does not establish anticipatory anhedonia as a fourth separate subtype. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Anhedonia includes deficits in anticipation, motivation, responsiveness to reward, and reward learning.

    “Anhedonia is a broad construct that includes deficits in anticipation of, motivation toward, and responsiveness to reward, as well as deficits in reward learning (ability to recall and make decisions based on past rewarding experiences) (Treadway and Zald, 2011) and is estimated to be 46% heritable in studies of monozygotic twins (Bogdan and Pizzagalli, 2009).”
  • Hyposensitivity to reward and hypersensitivity to punishment have been a consistent finding in depression.

    “hyposensitivity to reward and hypersensitivity to punishment have been a consistent finding in depression”
  • Abnormal dopamine release in responses to reward, aversion, and cognitive demand is a plausible mechanism explaining many depression symptoms.

    “Dysregulation of dopamine release in motivating responses to rewarding and aversive stimuli, as well as cognitive demand, is a plausible mechanistic cause that can explain a range of depression symptoms [24][25][26][27][28][29].”

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Authors
Treadway, M. T., & Zald, D. H.
Affiliations
Vanderbilt University (US)
Corresponding author
Treadway, Michael T.
Venue
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2011-01
Volume
35
Issue
3
Pages
537-555
ISSN
0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2049882268
Cited by
1,579
References
357
Citations by year
2026: 154 · 2025: 141 · 2024: 107 · 2023: 120 · 2022: 93 · 2021: 109 · 2020: 158 · 2019: 107 · 2018: 118 · 2017: 95 · 2016: 93 · 2015: 92 · 2014: 74 · 2013: 51 · 2012: 48
FWCI
3.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Mental Health (F31MH087015)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA019670)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
anhedonia, major depressive disorder, dopamine, reward motivation, translational neuroscience
MeSH terms
Animals, Depression, Dopamine, Humans, Motivation, Neurosciences, Reward, Translational Research, Biomedical

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