This page was translated automatically from Turkish. Read the original

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.

SO091

Impaired affective flexibility in Chinese patients with major depressive disorder: event-related potential N2 findings

IMPAIRED AFFECTIVE FLEXIBILITY IN CHINESE PATIENTS WITH MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER: EVIDENCE FROM THE EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL N2

N2 responses during affective switching are altered in major depressive disorder, particularly under negative affective conditions, indicating impaired early conflict monitoring and cognitive control.

The aim of this study was to examine early electrophysiological changes associated with impaired affective flexibility in major depressive disorder (MDD), using the event-related potential N2 component during switching between affective and non-affective processing dimensions. In a cross-sectional design, 29 patients with MDD who met DSM-5 criteria and 29 age- and sex-matched healthy controls completed a modified Affective Switching Task during EEG recording; the task required alternating between non-affective counting and evaluating the emotional valence of positive or negative images. N2 was measured at frontocentral sites (F1/Fz/F2/FC1/FCz/FC2) within the 200–350 ms time window, at both the individual-condition and difference-wave (N2D) levels; group effects were examined using mixed-design analysis of variance, and associations of N2D with behavioral switching costs and HAMD scores were assessed using Pearson correlations. At the individual-condition level, N2 amplitude during negative affective repetition (NAR) trials was less negative in the MDD group than in controls (t=2.140, p=0.037). At the difference-wave level, the negative-orientation difference wave (NE-N2D) was more negative in the MDD group than in controls (F(1,56)=4.155, p=0.046). Within the MDD group, NE-N2D was significantly more negative than the positive-orientation difference wave (PE-N2D) (F(1,56)=4.390, p=0.041). Regarding brain–behavior associations, N2D became more negative as negative-orientation switching costs increased in the MDD group (negative orientation r=-0.398, p=0.033; positive orientation r=-0.385, p=0.039). In conclusion, MDD is associated with altered N2 responses during affective switching, particularly under negative affective conditions, suggesting impairments in early conflict monitoring and cognitive control that may contribute to reduced affective flexibility in depression.

All WCP 2026 summaries