Ventral striatal volumes correlate with individuals’ regret related to pleasure rather than duty
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1
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), United Kingdom
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2
The University of Manchester, United Kingdom
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3
D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Brazil
Background:
Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) experience higher levels of regret even when their symptoms have subsided, suggesting that regret may add to their vulnerability to depression. So far, studies have focused on investigating primarily duty-related regret (i.e. guilt) and neglected to differentiate this from regret for not having engaged in pleasurable activities. Furthermore, the neuroanatomical basis of individual differences in regret is yet to be identified. Here, we tested the hypothesis that remitted MDD patients show higher levels of duty-related, but not pleasure-related regret which would be reflected in regional grey matter volume differences.
Methods:
We investigated grey matter volumes and proneness to pleasure- and duty-related regret on an experimental measure (the volitional action questionnaire) in healthy individuals (n=46) and patients with remitted MDD (n=82), not taking antidepressant medications.
Results:
Although no associations were detected with levels of guilt for not having fulfilled duties, pleasure-related regret was found to be positively correlated with grey matter volumes in the left ventral striatum. No differences in grey matter volumes were found between healthy individuals and patients with remitted MDD, but patients experienced higher levels of duty-related regret relative to pleasure-related regret.
Conclusions:
Individual differences in the tendency to experience regret for not having engaged in pleasure-related behaviours are reflected in left ventral striatal volume. Relatively lower orientation towards pleasure vs. duty outside of episodes may be a vulnerability factor for MDD and anhedonia.
Keywords:
ventral striatal volume,
regret,
Guilt,
Major Depressive Disorder,
Anhedonia
Conference:
ISAD LONDON 2017: Perspectives on Mood and Anxiety Disorders: Looking to the future, London, United Kingdom, 6 Jul - 7 Jul, 2017.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Brain structure and brain function
Citation:
Jaeckle
T,
Williams
SC,
Workman
CI,
Lythe
KE,
Gethin
JA,
Young
AH,
Moll
J and
Zahn
R
(2019). Ventral striatal volumes correlate with individuals’ regret related to pleasure rather than duty.
Front. Psychiatry.
Conference Abstract:
ISAD LONDON 2017: Perspectives on Mood and Anxiety Disorders: Looking to the future.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fpsyt.2017.48.00007
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Received:
26 May 2017;
Published Online:
25 Jan 2019.
*
Correspondence:
Ms. Tanja Jaeckle, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), London, United Kingdom, tanja.jaeckle@kcl.ac.uk