Background: Deficits in the processing of emotional stimuli have long been associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). These emotional biases are believed central to the symptomatology of MDD, with evidence growing that such biases can also be seen during remission. Although such changes are typical of psychiatric morbidity evidence is growing for the impact of ageing on emotional processing as well. Evidence shows that relative to younger adults, older adults demonstrate biases that favour positive information over negative. There is therefore overlap between MDD and normal ageing that has yet to be explored in the literature. Because positive biases are implicated in successful ageing it is important to consider the impact of previous MDD as individuals age. It is this question that is explored in this thesis. Study 1: A behavioural neuropsychological investigation was undertaken comparing older and younger adults with and without a history of MDD on a battery of affective cognitive tasks. Results suggested that the difference between the older adults with and without a history of MDD lay in their ability to disengage from negative information. Study 2: An fMRI investigation was undertaken in a subset of the study 1 sample using neuroimaging paradigms assessing memory encoding and attention for emotional stimuli. Broadly results suggested no influence of previous MDD on the processing of emotional information in the studied domains, with evidence seen in both tasks for the neural basis of the positivity effect of ageing. Study 3: A resting-state fMRI investigation of brain connectivity was undertaken to assess the influence of previous MDD and normal ageing on the communication structure of the brain. Results were largely suggestive of the influence of normal healthy ageing, with limited evidence of the influence of previous MDD or its interaction with ageing. Conclusions: Results were mixed across the investigations. Generally speaking the initial behavioural study was best powered to investigation the questions of interest, suggesting the potential for differential affective processing strategies in later life dependent on previous MDD. The subsequent imaging studies were perhaps less well placed to draw conclusions given limitations in terms of the domains investigated and the sample size. Evidence for the postulate that previous MDD impacts the development of the positivity effect has therefore been demonstrated, but for now remains limited to the behavioural domain.

This essay investigates the relationship between a malfunctioning Default Mode Network (DMN) and the diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). A deeper understanding of how the DMN affects those brain processes which are implicated in MDD may offer new approaches to reduce the suffering of the very large number of MDD-afflicted patients. The MDD-DMN relationship has been investigated by studying scientific articles within the field of cognitive neuroscience and searching the articles for clues on how a malfunctioning DMN might correlate with the diagnosis of MDD. The essay concludes that there is much experimental evidence in support of there being a strong coupling between a malfunctioning DMN and the diagnosis of MDD.

Orientador: Suely Amaral Mello / Banca: Lígia Márcia Martins / Banca: Marisa Eugênio Melillo Meira / Banca: Marilene Proença Rebello de Souza / Banca: Marilda Gonçalves Dias Facci / Resumo: A Psicologia Histórico-Cultural af irma a tese da experiência social como base da formação humana e aponta a unidade afetivo-cognitivo como mediadora nas relações do sujeito com o conhecimento no desenvolvimento das funções psicológicas. Esta pesquisa teve por objetivo expl icitar a constituição dos processos afetivos a partir da relação que o sujeito mantém com as objetivações humanas - signos e instrumentos. Trata-se de um estudo teór ico-bibliográf ico que pesquisou as raízes f ilosóf icas do pensamento vigotskiano sobre as vivências afetivas - Espinosa (século XVII) e Marx (século XIX). No conjunto de proposições dos autores da Escola de Vigotski, buscou elementos que conf irmassem a historicidade do afetivo e desvelassem alguns equívocos que permanecem dif icultando a solução dos problemas enf rentados pelas crianças no contexto escolar. Diante da constatação da matriz cartesiana que mantém o pensamento organicista e subjetivista, tanto na ciência psicológica quanto na Educação - separando as emoções das demais funções no conjunto da consciência humana, destacando seu caráter natural e a-histór ico e tratando-as como um impedit ivo nos processos de ensino e de aprendizagem escolar - o estudo apontou para a importância de se (re) pensar as relações que o sujeito estabelece com o entorno, o papel do conhecimento e das condições concretas de vida e de educação que produzem os processos afetivos, destacando a atividade como categoria fundamental na constituição das necessidades e motivos, bem como na formação de desejos e na objetivação desses, potencializando a aprendizagem e movendo o desenvolvimento. As análises conf irmaram a hipótese de que a constituição do afetivo resulta da histór ia de apropr iação e objetivação de signos e instrumentos de cada sujeito e que pensamento... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Historical-Cultural Psychology af firms the thesis of the social exper ience as the basis to human development and points the affective-cognitive unit as mediating the relat ions of human beings with knowledge in the development of the psychological functions. This research had for goal to explain the constitution of the affective processes f rom the relation between human being and human product ions - such as signs and inst ruments. It is a theoretic-bibliographic study that searched for the phi losophical roots of Vigotski's thought about the af fective experiences - Espinosa (17th century) and Marx (19th century). In the set of proposals of the authors of the School of Vigotski, it searched elements that conf irmed the historic or igin of the affectivity and overcome some mistakes that still make diff icult the solution of problems faced by the children in school context. In face of cartesian matrix that keeps the organicist and subjectivist thought in psychological science an well as in Education - separat ing emotions f rom other functions in the set of human conscience, detaching their natural and non-histor ical character and treating them as an impedit ive in education processes - this study pointed the importance of thinking over the relat ions that humans establish with the environment, the roll of knowledge and the real condit ions of life and education that produce the affective processes, detaching the activity as an essential category in the constitution of necessities and reasons, as well as in the const itution of desires and its expressions, increasing the learning possibilities and moving the development ahead. The analyses has confirmed the hypothesis of the affective constitution as result of each human being's history of appropriat ion and expression of signs and instruments and also that thoughts and feelings are psychological processes developed... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-12-17Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:21:10Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 gomes_cav_dr_mar.pdf: 679233 bytes, checksum: 329c4b2ef8143be8a7dbbc86426cfa92 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A Psicologia Histórico-Cultural af irma a tese da experiência social como base da formação humana e aponta a unidade afetivo-cognitivo como mediadora nas relações do sujeito com o conhecimento no desenvolvimento das funções psicológicas. Esta pesquisa teve por objetivo expl icitar a constituição dos processos afetivos a partir da relação que o sujeito mantém com as objetivações humanas – signos e instrumentos. Trata-se de um estudo teór ico-bibliográf ico que pesquisou as raízes f ilosóf icas do pensamento vigotskiano sobre as vivências afetivas – Espinosa (século XVII) e Marx (século XIX). No conjunto de proposições dos autores da Escola de Vigotski, buscou elementos que conf irmassem a historicidade do afetivo e desvelassem alguns equívocos que permanecem dif icultando a solução dos problemas enf rentados pelas crianças no contexto escolar. Diante da constatação da matriz cartesiana que mantém o pensamento organicista e subjetivista, tanto na ciência psicológica quanto na Educação – separando as emoções das demais funções no conjunto da consciência humana, destacando seu caráter natural e a-histór ico e tratando-as como um impedit ivo nos processos de ensino e de aprendizagem escolar – o estudo apontou para a importância de se (re) pensar as relações que o sujeito estabelece com o entorno, o papel do conhecimento e das condições concretas de vida e de educação que produzem os processos afetivos, destacando a atividade como categoria fundamental na constituição das necessidades e motivos, bem como na formação de desejos e na objetivação desses, potencializando a aprendizagem e movendo o desenvolvimento. As análises conf irmaram a hipótese de que a constituição do afetivo resulta da histór ia de apropr iação e objetivação de signos e instrumentos de cada sujeito e que pensamento... / Historical-Cultural Psychology af firms the thesis of the social exper ience as the basis to human development and points the affective-cognitive unit as mediating the relat ions of human beings with knowledge in the development of the psychological functions. This research had for goal to explain the constitution of the affective processes f rom the relation between human being and human product ions – such as signs and inst ruments. It is a theoretic-bibliographic study that searched for the phi losophical roots of Vigotski´s thought about the af fective experiences – Espinosa (17th century) and Marx (19th century). In the set of proposals of the authors of the School of Vigotski, it searched elements that conf irmed the historic or igin of the affectivity and overcome some mistakes that still make diff icult the solution of problems faced by the children in school context. In face of cartesian matrix that keeps the organicist and subjectivist thought in psychological science an well as in Education – separat ing emotions f rom other functions in the set of human conscience, detaching their natural and non–histor ical character and treating them as an impedit ive in education processes – this study pointed the importance of thinking over the relat ions that humans establish with the environment, the roll of knowledge and the real condit ions of life and education that produce the affective processes, detaching the activity as an essential category in the constitution of necessities and reasons, as well as in the const itution of desires and its expressions, increasing the learning possibilities and moving the development ahead. The analyses has confirmed the hypothesis of the affective constitution as result of each human being’s history of appropriat ion and expression of signs and instruments and also that thoughts and feelings are psychological processes developed... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)