The Role of Functional Neuroimaging in the Neuropsychology of Depression
Abstract
Depressed individuals show impaired performance in tests of attention and concentration. They also exhibit PET resting state abnormalities in dorsal prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate, regions known to be substrates of attentional processing in healthy individuals. This chapter outlines a strategy to study neuropsychological mechanisms in emotional disorders using functional imaging methods. It reviews evidence strongly implicating the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, particularly in the right hemisphere, as a key brain structure in emotion/cognition interactions in negative mood states. It will be argued that this neocortical region is a crucial convergence zone, being the substrate of sustained attention to the external environment, and the main target of limbic-cortical influences during changes in mood state across health and disease.
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Human functional imaging and postmortem tissue studies have identified abnormalities in several brain regions, including nuclei within the brain's reward pathway, in major depressive disorder.
“human functional imaging and postmortem tissue studies have identified abnormalities in several brain regions [2–6] including nuclei within the brain’s reward pathway.”
From The molecular and cellular mechanisms of depression: a focus on reward circuitry (2019) · cites this paper as [3]
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- Authors
- Liotti, M., & Mayberg, H. S.
- ORCID
- Mayberg, Helen S.
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2001-02
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 121-136
- ISSN
- 0165-0475 (ISSN-L)
- 1380-3395
- 1744-411X
- OpenAlex
- W2160750591
- Cited by
- 277
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 8.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- depression, functional neuroimaging, attention, sustained attention, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, right hemisphere, anterior cingulate cortex, resting-state brain activity, emotion-cognition interaction, mood states, PET
- MeSH terms
- Affect, Attention, Depression, Dominance, Cerebral, Electroencephalography, Humans, Limbic System, Tomography, Emission-Computed, Case-Control Studies, Prefrontal Cortex
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