Aberrant reward dynamics in trait anticipatory anhedonia

Abstract

As a cardinal feature of several psychiatric disorders, anhedonia includes a consummatory component (deficits in hedonic response to rewards) and an anticipatory component (a reduced motivation to pursue them). Although being conceptualized as impairments of reward system, the neural characterization of reward processing in anhedonia is hampered by the enormous heterogeneity in the reward phase ('wanting' vs 'liking') and comorbidity (inherent to disease states). The current event-related potential (ERP) study examined the reward dynamics of anticipatory anhedonia in a non-clinical sample. Anticipatory and consummatory ERP components were assessed with a monetary incentive delay task in a high anticipatory anhedonia (HAA) group and a low anticipatory anhedonia (LAA) group. HAA vs LAA group showed a diminished reward-related speeding during behavioral performance and reported overall reduced positive affect during anticipation and receipt of outcomes. Importantly, neural dynamics underlying reward processing were negatively associated with anticipatory anhedonia across the anticipatory phase indexed by the contingent negative variation and the consummatory phase indexed by the feedback P3. Our results suggest that anticipatory anhedonia in non-clinical individuals is linked to a poor modulation during both anticipatory and consummatory phases of reward processing.

Keywords: anticipatory anhedonia; event-related potentials; reward dynamics.

Fig. 1

Schematic representation of the monetary incentive delay task. Relevant ERP components in the anticipatory and consummatory phases are also shown. ITI = intertrial interval.

Fig. 2

Grand-averaged ERP waveforms as a function of group during the anticipation phase, where the shaded areas demarcate the time windows during which cue-P3 (400–550 ms), CNV (2800–3000 ms) and SPN (−200–0 ms) were scored. Topographical distribution maps for these ERP components are also shown.

Fig. 3

Scatterplots of the correlations between CNV amplitudes and RTs as a function of group in gain and neutral contexts.

Fig. 4

Grand-averaged ERP waveforms as a function of group during the consummatory phase, where shaded areas demarcate the time windows during which the FRN (230–330 ms) and fb-P3 (330–430 ms) were scored. Topographical distribution maps for these ERP components are also shown. SC = successful; US = unsuccessful.