Affective modulation of the startle response in depression: influence of the severity of depression, anhedonia, and anxiety

Kaviani, H.; Gray, J.A.; Checkley, S.A.; Raven, P.W.; Wilson, G.D.; Kumari, V.

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2004.04.007

« Previous Next »Journal of Affective Disorders
Volume 83, Issue 1 , Pages 21-31, 15 November 2004

Affective modulation of the startle response in depression: influence of the severity of depression, anhedonia, and anxiety

H. Kaviani
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
- Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Roozbeh Psychiatric Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
J.A. Gray
- This article is dedicated to the memory of Professor Jeffrey A. Gray, who passed away on 30th April 2004.
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
S.A. Checkley
- Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
P.W. Raven
- Metabolic and Clinical Trials Unit, Department of Mental Health Sciences, Royal Free and University College Medical School, UCL, Royal Free Campus, London NW3 2PF, UK
G.D. Wilson
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
V. Kumari
- Corresponding author. Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, PO78, London SE5 8AF, UK. Tel.: +44-207-848-0233; fax: +44-207-848-0646.
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK

Received 16 January 2004; received in revised form 20 April 2004; accepted 23 April 2004.

Abstract

Background: The amplitude of the startle reflex response is known to be influenced by the concomitant presentation of affect-toned material—if it is positive affect-toned, the reflex is inhibited, and if it is negative affect-toned, the reflex is augmented. Abundant evidence demonstrates the utility of the affect–startle paradigm as a significant tool for measuring both positive and negative emotions. We applied this paradigm to study emotional reactivity in depression, particularly in relation to symptoms of depression, anhedonia, and anxiety. Methods: Depressed patients (22) and controls (22) were shown a series of film clips, consisting of two clips with positive valence, two with negative valence, and two with relatively neutral valence. The startle response was measured in reaction to the acoustic startle-eliciting stimuli presented three times binaurally during each clip. Results: Highly depressed and anhedonic patients, relative to controls, showed a reduced mood (self-ratings) and a lack of startle modulation in response to affective film clips whereas patients relatively low on depression/anhedonia displayed a reduced mood only with pleasant clips and a normal pattern of affective startle modulation. Anhedonia and depression were highly positively correlated but neither correlated with anxiety. Anxious patients displayed larger reflexes across all clips and showed a reduced mood modulation with pleasant, but not unpleasant, clips. Limitations: The large majority of patients was medicated with antidepressants which may have influenced the results. Conclusions. Reactivity to pleasant stimuli is diminished in patients suffering from low levels of depression and/or anhedonia, but reactivity even to unpleasant stimuli seems compromised at high levels of depression and/or anhedonia. Anxiety is associated with hyperstartle responding.

Keywords: Depression, Anxiety, Anhedonia, Affective modulation, Mood, Startle response