A new study published in Development and Psychopathology sheds light on how depression may be transmitted from mothers to daughters through differences in how the brain responds to errors. The researchers found that mothers with a history of depression had altered brain responses when they made mistakes, and some of these brain patterns were linked to their daughters’ own brain activity. The findings suggest that certain patterns of brain activity involved in error monitoring could reflect a potential pathway for the intergenerational transmission of depression.
The study was motivated by a well-established pattern in psychological research: depression often runs in families. Daughters of mothers with a history of depression are at significantly higher risk of developing the condition themselves. Yet the specific biological or psychological processes that contribute to this transmission are still not fully understood. The researchers wanted to explore whether the brain’s response to errors—an important aspect of cognitive control and self-monitoring—might be one such mechanism.
“We are interested in understanding how vulnerability for developing depression is transmitted across generations, especially through cognitive and neural processes. This study allowed us to explore how brain responses to errors might differ in families with a history of depression and whether they are correlated in mother-daughter dyads,” said study author Simon Morand-Beaulieu, a doctoral candidate in clinical neuropsychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal.
The research team recruited 97 mother-daughter pairs from the Montreal area. About half of the mothers had a history of recurrent major depressive disorder. All participants completed a computer task known as the Flanker task, which is designed to elicit errors under time pressure. During this task, participants were hooked up to an electroencephalogram (EEG) to record their brain activity. The researchers focused on three specific brain responses to mistakes: the error-related negativity (ERN), and changes in two frequency bands of brain oscillations known as delta and theta.
In addition to the EEG data, the team collected information about participants’ current depression symptoms using standardized questionnaires. Clinical interviews were also conducted to verify psychiatric histories and rule out other diagnoses that might complicate the results.
The researchers found that mothers with a history of recurrent depression showed a distinct pattern in their brain’s response to mistakes. Specifically, they had reduced delta power and increased theta power in response to errors, compared to mothers without a depression history. These patterns were also associated with the mothers’ current levels of depressive symptoms: the more symptoms a mother reported, the lower her delta response and the higher her theta response.
Interestingly, there was no significant difference between the two groups of mothers in terms of ERN amplitude, a brain signal often linked with error detection. However, when the researchers looked at similarities between mothers and daughters, they found a significant correlation in ERN amplitude. This suggests that the ERN may be a familial trait, possibly shaped by genetic or environmental influences shared within the mother-daughter pair.
The study also looked at whether a mother’s depression history or current symptoms were related to her daughter’s neural responses to errors. Among daughters who had never experienced depression themselves, the researchers found that lower delta power in response to errors was significantly associated with higher maternal depression symptoms. This association suggests that a reduced delta response in the brain might be an early marker of vulnerability to depression, even before clinical symptoms appear.
“Our findings suggest that patterns of brain activity related to error processing may reflect potential vulnerability for developing depression, and that those patterns, among adolescent girls, are associated with their mothers’ symptoms of depression,” Morand-Beaulieu told PsyPost. “Recognizing these patterns could eventually help in early identification and prevention efforts.”
Although the ERN and theta power in daughters were not significantly associated with their mothers’ depression, the link between maternal depression symptoms and daughters’ delta response stood out as potentially meaningful. This is especially notable because delta oscillations have been associated with motivational processing. A blunted delta response might indicate lower sensitivity to mistakes, reduced emotional engagement, or difficulty in adjusting behavior—all of which could contribute to depression risk.
The study provides preliminary support for the idea that certain brain responses to errors may be one way depression risk is passed from parent to child. While the ERN appears to show familial similarity, delta oscillations may reflect a more dynamic, symptom-related process that could signal vulnerability in the next generation.
“We were surprised that not all neural markers of errors assessed in this study were associated in the same way with maternal history of depression and were not all correlated in mother-daughter dyads,” Morand-Beaulieu explained. “This suggests potential differences in the functional significance of those markers and their role in depression that would warrant further investigation.”
Like all research, the study has limitations. The sample included only mothers and daughters, so the findings may not apply to father-child or mother-son relationships. The relatively small sample size, especially for EEG analyses, may have limited the ability to detect some effects. Additionally, because the study was cross-sectional, it cannot determine whether these brain differences actually lead to depression over time.
“More research is needed with larger and more diverse populations,” Morand-Beaulieu said. “It would be interesting to include fathers and sons in this type of research. We hope that this line of research leads to new developments in the identification of at-risk youth earlier and more accurately. By understanding the neural markers of depression vulnerability, there is hope that we can move toward more targeted and preventative interventions.
“It’s important to remember that neural differences are just one piece of the puzzle. Social support, environment, and resilience, for instance, all play critical roles in vulnerability to depression.”
The study, “Neural response to errors among mothers with a history of recurrent depression and their adolescent daughters,” was authored by Simon Morand-Beaulieu, Iulia Banica, Clara Freeman, Paige Ethridge, Aislinn Sandre, and Anna Weinberg.
