Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41531206›Full record

Trial reportPsychological medicine2026

Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence of reward processing deficits in repetitive negative thinking: Implications for depression.

Martino Schettino, Arianna Mastrocesare, Daniele Bomarsi, Ilenia Ceccarelli, Yuen Siang Ang, Diego A Pizzagalli, Cristina Ottaviani, Sabrina Fagioli

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Psychological medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Martino SchettinoIRCCS Istituto Delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1477-0327
Arianna MastrocesareRoma Tre University, Rome, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4853-1517
Daniele BomarsiSapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4353-0904
Ilenia CeccarelliUniversity of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Yuen Siang AngInstitute of High Performance Computing, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9353-6837
Diego A PizzagalliNoel Drury, M.D. Institute for Translational Depression Discoveries, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7772-1143
Cristina OttavianiSapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5240-4387
Sabrina FagioliRoma Tre University, Rome, Italy.

Funding

Neuroimaging Studies of Reward Processing in DepressionR37MH068376 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · PI Diego A Pizzagalli · 2016 to 2026
$7.4M
Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca 2022YLTSWF CUP: F53D23004910006 - titled "Targeting attentional biases in depression: A longitudinal multimodal neuroimaging investigation" (PI: Sabrina Fagioli)NIMH NIH HHS R37 MH068376Sapienza Università di Roma AR223188B3133F0E (PI: Martino Schettino)Sapienza Università di Roma RM11715C7F74C683 (PI: Cristina Ottaviani)
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAnhedonia and rumination, a form of repetitive negative thinking (RNT), are key features of depression associated with poor treatment outcomes, chronic disease progression, and an increased risk of suicidality. Although their interaction is thought to sustain depressive states, the state-level mechanisms linking these symptoms remain poorly understood.

methodsIn this multilevel, randomized within-subjects study, 62 individuals (n = 38 females) with varying levels of depressive symptoms completed the Probabilistic Reward Task (PRT) under two conditions: experimentally induced RNT and an active control. Concurrent electroencephalography was employed to assess electroencephalographic markers of reward functioning.

resultsRNT significantly attenuated both reward response bias and feedback-related positivity (FRP) amplitudes, with the most pronounced effects in individuals with more severe depressive symptoms. These effects were not attributable to differences in task difficulty or perceptual cortical processing of PRT stimuli, supporting the specificity of RNT's impact on reward-related processes.

conclusionsRNT may transiently disrupt behavioral and neural indicators of reward functioning. These findings suggest that cognitive states such as RNT can exacerbate or reveal the latent reward-processing deficits typically observed in individuals with anhedonia. This state-dependent sensitivity highlights the potential utility of targeting RNT to restore reward processing in depression.

Indexed as

AnhedoniaDepressionPessimismRewardRumination, CognitiveAdolescentAdultElectroencephalographyEvoked PotentialsFemaleHumansMaleYoung AdultanhedoniaEEGevent-related potentialperseverative cognitionrumination

Identifiers

PMID41531206
PMCPMC12885348

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.