Neural basis of perseveration in ruminative thought

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K14465
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 10030:Clinical psychology-related
• Research Institution: The Ohara Memorial Institute for Science of Labour (2021-2022); National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (2019-2020)
• Principal Investigator: Nishimura Haruki 公益財団法人大原記念労働科学研究所, 研究部, 研究員 (20826119)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 反すう / 抑うつ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Rumination refers to passive and repetitive persistent thinking about the environment surrounding one's own distress and distress-related symptoms. In the present study, we focused on persistence, one of the factors that characterize rumination, and explored the cognitive neuroscientific mechanisms underlying this persistence.
First, brain states at rest were measured using MRI to examine the relationship between these patterns and evaluations of the self; second, a task in which participants were asked to evaluate themselves within the MRI. The results of Experiment 1 showed that the higher the functional connectivity between the medial frontal lobe and the striatum, the higher the implicit dominance score. The results of Experiment 2 also revealed higher activity in the precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex during self-reflection.

Free Research Field

臨床心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、抑うつ症状と関連する変数である反すうが何故持続してしまうのか、そのメカニズムを調べるための研究として位置付けられる。反すうは、症状の強くない健常者においても、一般的に認められる現象であるが、将来的な抑うつ症状や不安のような内在化症状だけでなく、外在化症状へのリスクファクターであることが指摘されている。このことから、本研究はそのような精神疾患のリスクファクターの理解を深めることで、有効な心理療法や予防法の開発につながる研究と考えられる。