Approach-avoidance tendencies in depression and childhood trauma: No effect of noradrenergic stimulation

Christian Eric Deuter; Janna Smit; Michael Kaczmarczyk; Katja Wingenfeld; Christian Otte; Linn Kristina Kuehl

doi:10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100077

Approach-avoidance tendencies in depression and childhood trauma: No effect of noradrenergic stimulation

Compr Psychoneuroendocrinol. 2021 Aug 1:8:100077. doi: 10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100077. eCollection 2021 Nov.

Authors

Christian Eric Deuter¹, Janna Smit¹, Michael Kaczmarczyk^{1

2}, Katja Wingenfeld¹, Christian Otte¹, Linn Kristina Kuehl³

Affiliations

¹ Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, And Berlin Institute of Health, Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany.
² Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
³ MSB Medical School Berlin, Germany.

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are a major risk factor for major depressive disorder (MDD) in later life. Both conditions are characterized by dysregulations in the noradrenergic system related which again could represent a mediating mechanism for deficits in affective processing and behavioral functioning. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study we tested the hypothesis that ACE and MDD are characterized by aberrant approach-avoidance (AA) tendencies and that these are mitigated after noradrenergic stimulation with yohimbine. In a mixed-measures, fully crossed design, participants (N = 131, 73 women) with/without MDD and with/without ACE received a single-dose of yohimbine or placebo on different days, followed by an AA task. We found modulation of AA tendencies by the emotional valence of target images, yet there were no effects of group or treatment. From these results, we conclude that AA tendencies are not critically affected by MDD or ACE and that the noradrenergic system is not substantially involved in this behavior.

Keywords: Adverse childhood experience; Approach-avoidance; Emotional processing; Locus coeruleus; Major depressive disorder; Noradrenaline; Norepinephrine; Yohimbine.