Date of Award
1-10-2020
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Sharee Light, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Erin Tone, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Vonetta Dotson, Ph.D.
Abstract
Anhedonia (defined as the inability to experience pleasure) is a symptom that is difficult to treat in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Prior research suggests that the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is a major underlying mechanism in the pathophysiology of depression. Therefore, we investigated whether repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment to the left DLPFC would predict a reduction in one facet of anhedonia symptomatology—namely, reward derived from positive social stimuli (i.e., smiling human faces)—in 26 depressed adults. The results revealed no significant effects of rTMS treatment on either accuracy or speeded reaction time during a novel behavioral task that involved identifying positive emotion in human faces. This suggests that although rTMS may be an innovative technique to reduce depressive symptoms in adults with MDD overall, its efficacy may not hinge on a meaningful reduction in this particular aspect of anhedonia.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/15169716
Recommended Citation
Tang, Brian L., "The Effects of Repeated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) on the Speeded Identification of Happy Faces in Depressed Adults." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2020.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/15169716
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