Perspectives of Rese a rch on Depressive Realism Phenomenon

1. Perspectives of Research on Depressive Realism Phenomenon Paweł Mazurkiewicz, Katarzyna Czajkowska, Natalia Bielczyk, Michał Nowacki* Inter-Faculty Individual Studies in Mathematics and Natural Sciences / Student’s Society of Neurobiology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw http://www.biol.uw.edu.pl/sknn; *e-mail : sknn@biol.uw.edu.pl Depressive realism phenomenon, described by Alloy and Abramson in 1979, describes more precise situational analysis and less erroneous calculation of outcome probability in depressive patients. To the contrary, most of healthy people show so called unrealistic optimism, which leads to overestimation of positive outcome probability and underestimation of negative outcome possibility. Experimental plan Aim ofstudy • Does depressive realism occur during assessment of own capabilities (time and task result)? • Does the level of information available affect the quality of the assessment? • Aredepressivesmorelikely to obtain high resultsin IQ test? Subjects • 96 subjects, 18 - 75 years old • 90% students of natural sciences, 10% researchers, Nencki Institute, none of them was a student of psychology • divided into 3 groups: (1) non-depressives (BDI result < 5; 38 subjects), (2) depressives (BDI >13; 33 subjects) and (3)buffer (BDI 6-12, 24 subjects) Experimental plan We examined whether depression level, based on Beck Depression Inventory I (Polish experimental version) result, correlates with prediction of success in the task, defined by subjects both before and after its completion. The task given was Raven’s Progressive Matrices Test (TMS), Standard Plus Version. Statistical analysis Raw results in task result prediction were reduced to absolute values and treated with t-Student test. Time result prediction was also analyzed with use of t-Student test. During the analysis, only groups (1) and (2) were taken into account. Results Estimation pro-cesses in human brain involve thalamus(1),amy-gdala(2), medial prefrontal cortex (3), caudate nucle-us(4) as well as accumbent nucle-us(5). It is known that brain functio-ning in depre-ssives differs from others, i.e. pre-frontal cortex fun-ctioning is altered. 1 In t-Student test for independent trials, both the task result prediction error (t(47,345) = 2,75, p<0,01) and the task result assessment error (t(66)= 2,95, p<0,01) were bigger in depressives. Time prediction did not differentiate groups (t(63)= 0,07, p>0,05). 2 5 3 4 Fig. 1 Evaluation of the task result prediction for three groups. The task result prediction was significantly bigger in depressives than non-depressives (p<0.01). Fig. 2 Evaluation of the task result for three groups. The task result assessment was significantly bigger in depressives than non-depressives (p<0.01). Fig. 3 Prediction of the time result for three groups. The time result prediction did not differentiate groups (p>0,05). Fig 4 Mean absolute evaluation of task result prediction (A) and assessment (B) for three groups. The difference between depressive and non-depressive group is statistically significant in both events (p<0.01). Conclusions: The results show clear tendency for underestimation in depressives. Parameter showing time prediction for task completion was not differentiated between groups. Weak negative correlation was noted between level of depression and Raven’s Matrices test result. Prospective Study The aim of the current study is to examine how depressive brain analyzes information during evaluation of outcome probability. We suppose brain structures involved in situation analysis differ in activity, depending on depression level. The study will be carried out using electroencephalography (EEG). Frontal lobes alpha range asymmetry, P300 potential amplitude, which is, supposed to be related to ambiguous situation analysis and N400 potential amplitude, calculated during estimation of probability of given situation as well as reaction to humorous stimulus (based on dissociation theory in verbal and non-verbal variant) will be analyzed. Fig.5 Time result for three groups. The time result did not differentiate groups (p>0,05). References Albright, J. S., Henderson, M. C. (1995). How real is depressive realism? A question of scales and standards. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 19, 589-609 Alloy, L. B., Abramson, L. Y. (1979) Judgement of contingency in depressed and nondepressed students: Sadder but wiser? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 108, 441-485 Alloy, L. B., & Abramson, L. Y. (1982). Learned helplessness, depression, and the illusion of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 142, 1114-1126 Dobson, K. S., Pusch, D. (1995). 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