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C02 - Expectation violation and reward sensitivity in psychological interventions modifying the course of illness in acute depression

Igor Nenadić, Winfried Rief

Negative expectations of future events and impaired sensitivity for rewards are main drivers of dysfunctional behaviour and cognitive-emotional patterns in depression. Project C02 applies targeted interventions in 150 acute depression patients based on expectation violation vs. reward sensitivity approaches. This links systems neuroscience parameters (esp. functional and structural brain imaging) with cognitive-emotional mechanisms and a mechanism-based psychological intervention into a translational design, improving our understanding of key modifiers of short-term symptom improvement following depression onset.