Group differences in OXT methylation between patients with Major Depressive Disorder and healthy controls: A pre-registered replication study.

Depression is linked to stress which leaves traces in the epigenetic signature of genes. The oxytocin system is implicated in allostatic processes promoting adaption to environmental stressors. Interactions of the oxytocin system with the environment, e.

Association between parental separation, childhood trauma, neuroticism, and depression: a case control study.

Background: Parental separation has been suggested to be associated with depression development in offspring. The new family constellation subsequent to separation could be associated with elevated scores of childhood trauma, shaping more emotionally instable personalities. This could ultimately be a risk factor for mood disorders and particularly the development of depression in life.

Cumulative Genetic Score of DRD2 Polymorphisms Is Associated with Impulsivity and Masked Semantic Priming.

Individual differences in the magnitude of semantic priming effects are associated with executive functions (EF). Striatal dopamine has been shown to be associated with EF as well as impulsivity and could therefore be associated with differences in the magnitude of semantic priming. We investigated n = 155 individuals in an unmasked as well as in a masked semantic priming paradigm.

Primary emotions as predictors for fear of COVID-19 in former inpatients with Major Depressive Disorder and healthy control participants.

Introduction: There are reports of an increase in depressive symptoms and fear during the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular in patients with depression. This study investigates factors related to fear of COVID-19 in former inpatients suffering from depression and healthy controls by assessing variables typically associated with depression and anxiety disorders, i.e.

Factors related to age at depression onset: the role of SLC6A4 methylation, sex, exposure to stressful life events and personality in a sample of inpatients suffering from major depression.

Background: An early onset of depression is associated with higher chronicity and disability, more stressful life events (SLEs), higher negative emotionality as described by the primary emotion SADNESS and more severe depressive symptomatology compared to depression onset later in life. Additionally, methylation of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) is associated with SLEs and depressive symptoms.

Methods: We investigated the relation of SLEs, SLC6A4 methylation in peripheral blood, the primary emotions SADNESS and SEEKING (measured by the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales) as well as depressive symptom severity to age at depression onset in a sample of N = 146 inpatients suffering from major depression.

The Influence of the BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism on Mechanisms of Semantic Priming: Analyses with Drift-Diffusion Models of Masked and Unmasked Priming.

Automatic and strategic processes in semantic priming can be investigated with masked and unmasked priming tasks. Unmasked priming is thought to enable strategic processes due to the conscious processing of primes, while masked priming exclusively depends on automatic processes due to the invisibility of the prime. Besides task properties, interindividual differences may alter priming effects.

Relation of promoter methylation of the structural oxytocin gene to critical life events in major depression: A case control study.

Background: Stressful life events (SLEs) are associated with hyper(re-)activity of the HPA-axis. HPA-axis hyper(re-)activity is thought to be a major risk factor for depression development. SLEs may induce changes in an organism's stress system via epigenetic mechanisms.

Depressive Emotionality Moderates the Influence of the BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism on Executive Functions and on Unconscious Semantic Priming.

Automatic semantic processing can be assessed using semantic priming paradigms. Individual differences in semantic priming have been associated with differences in executive functions. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met (substitution of valine (Val) to methionine (Met) at codon 66) polymorphism has been shown to be associated with executive functions as well as depression.

Relation of Promoter Methylation of the Oxytocin Gene to Stressful Life Events and Depression Severity.

Oxytocin (OT) is a neuropeptide associated with trauma, sociality, and depression. Despite the widely accepted assumption of OT playing a role in the etiology of mood and anxiety disorders, associations between stressful life events, depression, and epigenetic regulation of the gene coding for OT (OXT) have not yet been investigated. We therefore aimed to examine the interrelations of stressful life events, depression severity, and methylation of the promoter region of OXT in a sample of N = 146 inpatients suffering from major depression.

Depression Is Associated With the Absence of Sex Differences in the 2D:4D Ratio of the Right Hand.

The 2D:4D digit ratio reflects prenatal testosterone relative to estradiol exposure of a developing embryo. Higher levels of prenatal testosterone have been related to lower 2D:4D ratios. In addition, higher 2D:4D ratios have been associated with female gender, neuroticism, and depression severity.