Cognitive, behavioral, and autonomic correlates of mind wandering and perseverative cognition in major depression

Autonomic dysregulation has been hypothesized to play a role in the relationships between psychopathology and cardiovascular risk. An important transdiagnostic factor that has been associated with autonomic dysfunction is perseverative cognition (PC), mainly present in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD...

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Main Authors:	Ottaviani, Cristina, Shahabi, Leila, Tarvainen, Mika, Cook, Ian, Abrams, Michelle, Shapiro, David
Format:	Online
Language:	English
Published:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2015
Online Access:	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4283544/

id	pubmed-4283544
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	pubmed-42835442015-01-19 Cognitive, behavioral, and autonomic correlates of mind wandering and perseverative cognition in major depression Ottaviani, Cristina Shahabi, Leila Tarvainen, Mika Cook, Ian Abrams, Michelle Shapiro, David Neurology Autonomic dysregulation has been hypothesized to play a role in the relationships between psychopathology and cardiovascular risk. An important transdiagnostic factor that has been associated with autonomic dysfunction is perseverative cognition (PC), mainly present in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in the form of rumination. As the ability to adaptively let our mind wander without ruminating is critical to mental health, this study aimed to examine the autonomic concomitants of functional vs. dysfunctional intrusive thoughts in MDD. Ambulatory heart rate (HR) and variability (HRV) of 18 MDD subjects and 18 healthy controls were recorded for 24 h. Approximately every 30 min during waking hours subjects reported their ongoing thoughts and moods using electronic diaries. Random regression models were performed. Compared to controls, MDD subjects were more often caught during episodes of PC. In both groups, PC required more effort to be inhibited and interfered more with ongoing activities compared to mind wandering (MW) (ps < 0.0001). This cognitive rigidity was mirrored by autonomic inflexibility, as PC was characterized by lower HRV (p < 0.0001) compared to MW. A worse mood was reported by MDD patients compared to controls, independently of their ongoing cognitive process. Controls, however, showed the highest mood worsening during PC compared to being on task and MW. HRV during rumination correlated with self-reported somatic symptoms on the same day and several dispositional traits. MDD subjects showed lower HRV during sleep, which correlated with hopelessness rumination. Results show that PC is associated with autonomic dysfunctions in both healthy and MDD subjects. Understanding when spontaneous thought is adaptive and when it is not may clarify its role in the etiology of mood disorders, shedding light on the still unexplained association between psychopathology, chronic stress, and risk for health. Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-01-05 /pmc/articles/PMC4283544/ /pubmed/25601824 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2014.00433 Text en Copyright © 2015 Ottaviani, Shahabi, Tarvainen, Cook, Abrams and Shapiro. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
repository_type	Open Access Journal
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building	NCBI PubMed
collection	Online Access
language	English
format	Online
author	Ottaviani, Cristina Shahabi, Leila Tarvainen, Mika Cook, Ian Abrams, Michelle Shapiro, David
spellingShingle	Ottaviani, Cristina Shahabi, Leila Tarvainen, Mika Cook, Ian Abrams, Michelle Shapiro, David Cognitive, behavioral, and autonomic correlates of mind wandering and perseverative cognition in major depression
author_facet	Ottaviani, Cristina Shahabi, Leila Tarvainen, Mika Cook, Ian Abrams, Michelle Shapiro, David
author_sort	Ottaviani, Cristina
title	Cognitive, behavioral, and autonomic correlates of mind wandering and perseverative cognition in major depression
title_short	Cognitive, behavioral, and autonomic correlates of mind wandering and perseverative cognition in major depression
title_full	Cognitive, behavioral, and autonomic correlates of mind wandering and perseverative cognition in major depression
title_fullStr	Cognitive, behavioral, and autonomic correlates of mind wandering and perseverative cognition in major depression
title_full_unstemmed	Cognitive, behavioral, and autonomic correlates of mind wandering and perseverative cognition in major depression
title_sort	cognitive, behavioral, and autonomic correlates of mind wandering and perseverative cognition in major depression
description	Autonomic dysregulation has been hypothesized to play a role in the relationships between psychopathology and cardiovascular risk. An important transdiagnostic factor that has been associated with autonomic dysfunction is perseverative cognition (PC), mainly present in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in the form of rumination. As the ability to adaptively let our mind wander without ruminating is critical to mental health, this study aimed to examine the autonomic concomitants of functional vs. dysfunctional intrusive thoughts in MDD. Ambulatory heart rate (HR) and variability (HRV) of 18 MDD subjects and 18 healthy controls were recorded for 24 h. Approximately every 30 min during waking hours subjects reported their ongoing thoughts and moods using electronic diaries. Random regression models were performed. Compared to controls, MDD subjects were more often caught during episodes of PC. In both groups, PC required more effort to be inhibited and interfered more with ongoing activities compared to mind wandering (MW) (ps < 0.0001). This cognitive rigidity was mirrored by autonomic inflexibility, as PC was characterized by lower HRV (p < 0.0001) compared to MW. A worse mood was reported by MDD patients compared to controls, independently of their ongoing cognitive process. Controls, however, showed the highest mood worsening during PC compared to being on task and MW. HRV during rumination correlated with self-reported somatic symptoms on the same day and several dispositional traits. MDD subjects showed lower HRV during sleep, which correlated with hopelessness rumination. Results show that PC is associated with autonomic dysfunctions in both healthy and MDD subjects. Understanding when spontaneous thought is adaptive and when it is not may clarify its role in the etiology of mood disorders, shedding light on the still unexplained association between psychopathology, chronic stress, and risk for health.
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2015
url	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4283544/
_version_	1613173095334412288

Cognitive, behavioral, and autonomic correlates of mind wandering and perseverative cognition in major depression

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