Brain study in depression shows reward painful

Depressed brain shows conflict with reward


Published: March 26, 2008 at 7:52 PM

STANFORD, Calif., March 26 (UPI) -- Some forms of depression may be experienced not as the absence of pleasure but as the presence of emotional pain or disappointment, U.S. researchers said.

Researchers at Stanford University in California recruited both depressed and non-depressed volunteers to undergo brain scans, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, while they participated in an activity in which they won and lost money.

First author Dr. Brian Knutson said when study participants anticipated winning money, both depressed and non-depressed people showed neural activation in the nucleus accumbens, a region implicated in the anticipation of reward.
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