@article{ref1,
title="Differences in neural and cognitive response to emotional faces in middle-aged dizygotic twins at familial risk of depression",
journal="Psychological medicine",
year="2017",
author="Miskowiak, K. W. and Svendsen, A. M. B. and Harmer, C. J. and Elliott, R. and Macoveanu, J. and Siebner, H. R. and Kessing, L. V. and Vinberg, M.",
volume="47",
number="13",
pages="2345-2357",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Negative bias and aberrant neural processing of emotional faces are trait-marks of depression but findings in healthy high-risk groups are conflicting. <br><br>METHODS: Healthy middle-aged dizygotic twins (N = 42) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): 22 twins had a co-twin history of depression (high-risk) and 20 were without co-twin history of depression (low-risk). During fMRI, participants viewed fearful and happy faces while performing a gender discrimination task. After the scan, they were given a faces dot-probe task, a facial expression recognition task and questionnaires assessing mood, personality traits and coping. <br><br>RESULTS: Unexpectedly, high-risk twins showed reduced fear vigilance and lower recognition of fear and happiness relative to low-risk twins. During face processing in the scanner, high-risk twins displayed distinct negative functional coupling between the amygdala and ventral prefrontal cortex and pregenual anterior cingulate. This was accompanied by greater fear-specific fronto-temporal response and reduced fronto-occipital response to all emotional faces relative to baseline. The risk groups showed no differences in mood, subjective state or coping. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Less susceptibility to fearful faces and negative cortico-limbic coupling during emotional face processing may reflect neurocognitive compensatory mechanisms in middle-aged dizygotic twins who remain healthy despite their familial risk of depression.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0033-2917",
doi="10.1017/S0033291717000861",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291717000861"
}