Neuroscience

Depression (economics)

Mood

Clinical psychology

Brain activity and meditation

Macroeconomics

Cognitive psychology

Psychology

Economics

Functional magnetic resonance imaging

Hippocampus

Amygdala

Electroencephalography

Nature Human Behaviour

Widening economic inequity has been suggested to associate with depression. However, little is known about the underlying neural mechanisms of this link. Here, we demonstrate that functional magnetic resonance imaging activity patterns in the amygdala and hippocampus induced by the inequity between the self and other rewards during an economic game can predict participants’ present and future (measured one year later) depression indices. Such predictions were not possible using participant’s behavioural and socio-economic status measures. These findings suggest that sensitivity to economic inequity has a critical effect on human mood states, and the amygdala and hippocampus play a key role in individual differences in the effect. Haruno et al. combine functional magnetic resonance imaging, an economic game and depression self-reports to show that brain activity in the amygdala and hippocampus induced by inequity can predict present and future depression indices.

Brain response patterns to economic inequity predict present and future depression indices