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Effect of depression on occulomotor inhibition in a non-clinical sample.

Khira El Bouragui1, 2*, Chrystel Besche-Richard2, Laurent Lefebvre1 and Mandy Rossignol1
  • 1 UMONS - University of Mons, Belgium
  • 2 URCA - University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, France

Introduction Cognitive biases have been highlighted in depression impairing inhibition abilities (Joormann, 2007). This study aims to evaluate oculomotor inhibition, which is defined as a suppression of reflexive saccades toward peripheral cues (Nigg, 2000). To measure such processes, authors have developed an anti-saccade paradigm, in which participants have to suppress their reflexive saccade towards cues to generate a volitional saccade in the opposite direction. We adapted this task with emotional information to assess oculomotor inhibition in depression. Method The aim of this study is to provide evidence for inhibition deficits in a non-clinical sample using a large panel of emotions (happiness, anger, disgust and surprise). 118 students (18 to 31 years old) were submitted to an anti-saccade task. They had to focus their attention toward (pro-saccade condition) or away from (anti-saccade condition) a cue that could be (a) a non-emotional stimulus (ovals), (b) an emotional social stimulus (human faces) or (c) an emotional non-social stimulus (animals or plants) and to decide the orientation (up or down) of the arrow (target) appearing immediately after the cue. Reaction times (RT) and correct answers’ rates (CA) were recorded. Results and discussion CA scores did not show significant difference between group and may be explained by a celling effect. RT results showed a main effect of the group for emotional information. The depressed group was slower across tasks. The global slowing effect related to depression may be interpreted in terms of motivational deficits. Results also outlined a main effect of the stimuli type. Participants were faster in the social condition than the non-social one. It seems that non-social stimuli enhance the difficulty of the task. This effect might be attributed to the more pronounced salience of human faces (Wild et al., 2001). Furthermore, interaction between task and emotion has been found and will be discussed in terms of vigilance model (Hegerl et al., 2012) and approach-avoidance model (Elliot, 2006).

References

Elliot, A. J. (2006). The hierarchical model of approach-avoidance motivation. Motivation and emotion, 30(2), 111-116.

Hegerl, U., Wilk, K., Olbrich, S., Schoenknecht, P., & Sander, C. (2012). Hyperstable regulation of vigilance in patients with major depressive disorder. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 13(6), 436-446.

Joormann, J., & Gotlib, I. H. (2010). Emotion regulation in depression: relation to cognitive inhibition. Cognition and Emotion, 24(2), 281-298.

Nigg, J. T. (2000). On inhibition/disinhibition in developmental psychopathology: views from cognitive and personality psychology and a working inhibition taxonomy. Psychological bulletin, 126(2), 220.

Wild, B., Erb, M., & Bartels, M. (2001). Are emotions contagious? Evoked emotions while viewing emotionally expressive faces: quality, quantity, time course and gender differences. Psychiatry research, 102(2), 109-124.

Keywords: Depression, inhibition, anti-saccade, cognitive biases, emotional faces

Conference: 12th National Congress of the Belgian Society for Neuroscience, Gent, Belgium, 22 May - 22 May, 2017.

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Topic: Cognition and Behavior

Citation: El Bouragui K, Besche-Richard C, Lefebvre L and Rossignol M (2019). Effect of depression on occulomotor inhibition in a non-clinical sample.. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: 12th National Congress of the Belgian Society for Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2017.94.00060

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Received: 24 Apr 2017; Published Online: 25 Jan 2019.

* Correspondence: Ms. Khira El Bouragui, UMONS - University of Mons, Mons, Belgium, khira.elbouragui@umons.ac.be