Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Open Up: Do Not Let Depression Hide You Behind Media-Multitasking


             Why are you so quiet? I no longer see you! You were never like this! These statements are continuous ring in the ears of individuals suffering from depression. Depression that has been a hot topic in the past couple of decades can be a good news for teens. Have you ever had a friend that you used to spend majority of your time with and then suddenly you see them inattentive during your regular activities or hiding in their room? This sudden change in behavior and social withdrawal is usually the first sign that we observe in individuals going through depression. Recent article published in New York Times revealed the data collected by the Center of Disease Control in 2013 showing that 30 percent of teenagers that felt sad or hopeless for almost every day for 2 or more weeks in a row, out of which 17 percent considered attempting suicide. This rising diagnosis of depression in our youth has attracted the interest of many scientist to further look into the biological and psychological aspects of the disease.


Depression can be triggered by a variety factors that include: heredity, environmental factors, social relations or even crisis. Despite the trigger, one common sign/symptom that is evident in every patient is their lack of ability to focus on tasks, remembering details and making decisions. As a result Silton et el decided to explore the neuronal basis and pathways involved in attention and its malfunction in those who are depressed. In their research published in 2011, titled Depression and anxious apprehension distinguish frontocingulate cortical activity during top-down attentional control, the team looked into the neural pathway from the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) that has been identified in the top-down attentional control. In the study 100 participants were required to take the Stoop Interference task under the functional MRI and the brain potential of the two regions, LDFLPFC and dACC were measured using an Electroencephalogram. Dorsolateral Prefrontal cortex is region in the brain that serves as a storage for short term working memory while the anterior cingulate cortex is involved in conflict detection. Silton et el discovered that in high level of depression there is very little relation between the LDFLPFC and dACC meaning that increased LDFLPFC lead to better performance on the Stroop Interference, however in low levels of depression both LDFLPFC and dACC indicated a direct relationship with Stroop Interference meaning worse performance. The early high activity in the LDFLPFC and later high activity indicates poor top down attentional performance indicating that depressed individuals struggle with concentrating.


Would you describe watching television while surfing though your internet browser on your laptop at the same time as a sign of being depressed? A study conducted by Mark Becker and his team at Michigan State University recently indicated close ties between individuals who are depressed and their multitasking media usage. A survey of 319 and their media use and mental health in which it was reported that “depressed or anxious people are turning to media multitasking that might actually help them deal with their problems. It could also serve as a warning sign that a youngster is becoming depressed or anxious.”  To investigate the impact of multitasking and attention deficit Brandon Ralph and his team at University of Waterloo set out an online study questionnaire where participants that included the media multitasking index and Media multitasking beliefs questionnaire (MMBQ). In this self-questionnaire study the researchers discovered positive correlation between multi-media tasking and attention deficit. The research further found “…we found no evidence of a significant relation between media multitasking and perceived ability to switch attention between tasks and, although we found an association between media multitasking and attention to internal distractions (i.e., off-task thoughts), and no association between media multitasking and feelings of distractibility with regard to environmental, or external, stimuli.”

Compiling the research conducted by Silton et el, Becker et el and finally Brandon Ralph and his team, we can connected the neural activity and the attention deficit that exist in depressed patients. Through media-multitasking the patients withdraw from their social interactions. During multi-media tasking the activity of the dACC is disrupted/out of sync in relation to LDFLPFC which lower the top-down attention control. Consequently, media-multitasking serves as way for these individuals to hide themselves and shift their attention focus, since media-multi tasking does not interfere with the attention switching process from one task to another task, however it does refrain them from focusing on their specific task. This task or focus maybe on their thoughts and internal conflicts that they may try to avoid, thus further weakening their productivity and social interactions. Whether media-multi tasking serves as treatment or a sign/symptom of depression is highly questionable as further research needs to be conducted.

Reference:

-Depression and anxious apprehension distinguish frontocingulate cortical activity during
    top-down attentional control. Silton, Rebecca Levin; Heller, Wendy; Engels, Anna S.;
       Towers, David N.; Spielberg, Jeffrey M.; Edgar, J. Christopher; Sass, Sarah M.;
           Stewart, Jennifer L.; Sutton, Bradley P.; Banich, Marie T.; Miller, Gregory A. Journal
              of Abnormal Psychology, Vol 120(2), May 2011, 272-285.
                 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0023204

-Michigan State University. "Multiple media use tied to depression, anxiety." ScienceDaily.
     ScienceDaily, 4 December 2012.
       <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121204145557.htm>.

- Ralph, Brandon, David Thomson, James Cheyne, and Daniel Smilek. "Media Multitasking
   and Failures of Attention in Everyday Life." Psychological Research An International
     Journal of Perception, Attention, Memory, and Action (2013). Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
          <http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00426-013-0523-7/fulltext.html>.

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