SEEKING and depression in stroke patients: An exploratory study

Marina Farinelli, Jaak Panksepp, Laura Gestieri, Maria Rosaria Leo, Raffaele Agati, Monica Maffei, Marco Leonardi, Georg Northoff

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The concept of SEEKING describes a predisposition to search enthusiastically for rewards in the environment. While SEEKING and its underlying functional anatomy have been extensively investigated in animals, such processes in humans, especially brain-damaged individuals, remain understudied. We therefore conducted an exploratory behavioral study in stroke patients to investigate the effects of brain lesions that anatomically could be interpreted to impact the SEEKING system and predicted relationships to depression. Patients with lesions in anterior, medial, and/or subcortical lesions showed significantly lower SEEKING scores and higher depression scores than nonlesioned subjects in the control group. Based on our data and related work on animals, we propose central involvement of the anterior subcortical-cortical midline system as core of the limbic system in SEEKING in humans.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)348-358
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
Volume35
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 1 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Affective neuroscience
  • Depression
  • Rehabilitation
  • SEEKING
  • Stroke

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Neurology
  • Neurology
  • Clinical Psychology

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