春水堂视频

While anxiety reduces the ability to choose words, depression is associated with better performance in word selection, CU-Boulder-led study finds

Depression and anxiety are often mentioned in the same breath, and for good reason. 春水堂视频 half of those with a history of depression also have a history of anxiety, and both are associated with impairments in a person鈥檚 鈥渆xecutive function.鈥�

Hannah Snyder likes to think of the human brain鈥檚 executive function as akin to an executive of a company who is constantly choosing between many options.

"Depression is not usually associated with cognitive benefits, but Hannah found that depressive symptoms were associated with better abilities to choose between options.鈥�

鈥淓xecutive function is talked about in popular media as if it were one thing,鈥� says Snyder, who earned a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2012 and is now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Denver.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not. It鈥檚 a collection of abilities that allow you to control and direct your behavior to accomplish your goals.鈥�

Research has shown that the more choices your brain鈥檚 CEO has, the harder it is to make a decision. That goes not just for choosing among scores of breakfast cereals at the grocery store but also how we choose words when speaking.

鈥淭hough you are not consciously aware of it, you are constantly choosing between a lot of different words. This does slow us down,鈥� Snyder says.

Now, in groundbreaking new research, she has found that where anxiety reduces the ability to choose words, depression is surprisingly associated with better performance in word selection.

Despite their frequent comorbidity, 鈥淎nxiety and depressive symptoms counterintuitively have opposite effects,鈥� Snyder writes in the journal听Cognition and Emotion.

鈥淒epression is not usually associated with cognitive benefits, but Hannah found that depressive symptoms were associated with better abilities to choose between options,鈥� says Yuko Munakata, professor of psychology and neuroscience at CU-Boulder, Snyder鈥檚 former adviser.

鈥淭hese findings are important in highlighting the distinct cognitive profiles associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms.鈥�

The explanation for the difference may lie with the neurochemistry of the brain. Word choice occurs in prefrontal areas of the brain involved with executive function, where glutamate and GABA, which serve as the main excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters, respectively, exist.

Previous research has demonstrated that GABA鈥檚 inhibitory mechanism does not work as well in patients with higher levels of anxiety, Snyder says.

鈥淎ll those different words are active in the brain all at once, shouting 鈥楥hoose me, me, me!鈥� GABA is sort of hushing everyone down until there is just one voice left. The winner is the word you pick,鈥� she says.

Conversely, depression is associated with lower levels of excitatory glutamate.

鈥淚n Hannah鈥檚 framework, (a) reduction in the excitatory function leads to reduced activity of competing responses and improves the ability to select one option,鈥� says Munakata, a co-author of the paper.

Snyder notes that the study doesn鈥檛 specifically examine that hypothesis. But she is co-author with CU-Boulder graduate student and lead author Alejandro de la Vega and Professor of Psychology Marie Banich on a paper to be published in the听Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience听based on research that directly measured ratios of glutamate and GABA using spectroscopy.

鈥淭his is more direct evidence that nicely backs up鈥� the anxiety-depression model she has developed, Snyder says.

Some people, including peer reviewers at academic journals, have asked Snyder if she鈥檚 saying depression is a good thing.

鈥淣o, depression is not good for you,鈥� she says.

But the research may have implications for treatment of anxiety and what kinds of therapy are done. For example, patients with anxiety might do better when presented with a limited number of choices rather than an open-ended decision such as, 鈥淲hat are you going to do this weekend?鈥�

鈥淪ocial anxiety might keep someone from going out, so saying, 鈥極K, here is a list of social activities, pick three before next week,鈥� might be more effective,鈥� Snyder says.

Clay Evans is director of public relations for听.