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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

EV0842

Altered neurocognitive processing of humor in individuals with depression: an ERP study

ALTERED NEUROCOGNITIVE PROCESSING OF HUMOR IN INDIVIDUALS WITH DEPRESSION: AN ERP STUDY

Individuals with depression exhibit neurophysiological patterns distinct from those of healthy controls during the early attentional (N2), semantic incongruity (N400), and late emotional appraisal (LPP) stages of humor processing.

The study aimed to examine the neurocognitive processing of humor in individuals with depression using event-related potentials (ERPs) and to identify brain activity associated with patterns of affective appreciation. Forty-two participants (21 with depression and 21 healthy controls), selected based on their Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scores, were assessed using a 2 (group) x 4 (type) mixed design, with each participant viewing a total of 128 stimuli across four experimental sessions. Stimulus types were defined as socially oriented humor, relationship-oriented (high-arousal) humor, dominance-oriented humor, and non-humorous content; amplitudes of N2 (attention), N400 (incongruity), P600 (resolution), and the late positive potential (LPP; appreciation) were analyzed at Fz and Cz. At Fz, N2 amplitudes in response to humor overall were significantly greater in the depression group, a finding interpreted as heightened early attentional sensitivity. At Cz, N400 amplitudes for high-arousal humor were greater in the depression group, suggesting intensified semantic and emotional integration. While no significant between-group differences were found in P600 amplitudes, LPP amplitudes for high-arousal humor at Fz were significantly greater in the depression group. The poster did not report numerical p-values or effect sizes. The authors state that these patterns provide a neurocognitive basis for developing targeted emotion regulation interventions, particularly for high-arousal stimuli.

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