Mechanisms of Depression and Anhedonia in Adolescents: Linking Sleep to Reward- and Stress-Related Brain Function

Overview

This research will use biobehavioral approaches to generate understanding about the linkages between sleep duration and timing, stressful life events, and depressive symptoms in adolescents, with a long-term aim of developing effective preventative interventions.

The last decade witnessed a steady growth from 8% to 14% in the prevalence of adolescents suffering from major depressive episode within the past year, and depression is expected to be the leading cause of global disability by 2030. The increase in depression incidence and disability is also related to increases in suicidality in adolescents, and the depressive symptom of anhedonia predicts suicidality above and beyond depression diagnosis. The high degree of morbidity and mortality associated with depression and anhedonia in adolescence makes this a key developmental period for research and intervention. Risk for depression and anhedonia is elevated in adolescents with insufficient sleep duration, late sleep timing, or elevated exposure to stressors. Alarmingly, only 30% of adolescents regularly obtain the recommended hours of sleep, and sleep timing is at its latest during mid- to late-adolescence. Adolescents also report high levels of stress related to work- and time-demands, and most will experience at least one major adverse life event before adulthood. Short/late sleep and stressors may also cause disruptions in reward- and stress-related brain function (e.g., medial prefrontal cortex response to monetary reward, autonomic and endocrine function during stressors), which are key biobehavioral mechanisms of depression and anhedonia. Short/late sleep habits are prime targets for depression intervention in adolescents; however, there is insufficient causal evidence that improving sleep opportunity and/or timing will alter the biobehavioral mechanisms of depression. The overall objective of this R01 is to evaluate a biobehavioral model whereby sufficient sleep duration and/or early sleep timing can reduce depressive symptoms and anhedonia by promoting reward- and stress-related brain function in adolescents. The long-term goal of this research is to leverage sleep and circadian function to promote mental health. A series of studies by the PI and Co-Is indicate that short sleep, late sleep, and stressful life events independently predict reward- and stress-related brain function and depressive symptoms in adolescents. However, these studies do not evaluate the interactive effects of sleep/circadian function and stressful life events, or use experimental designs. More recent research by the PI and Co-Is uses sleep-circadian manipulation to target reward- and stress-related brain function and improve mental health in adolescents. Building from this research, this R01 will test the central hypothesis that extending and/or advancing sleep will alter reward- and stress-related brain function, and decrease depressive symptoms and anhedonia, in adolescents with short and late sleep. This proposal is consistent with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Strategic Objective to identify clinically meaningful biomarkers and behavioral indicators of mental health.

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Central Contacts