Behavioral genetics of temporal framing: Heritability of time perspective and its common genetic bases with major personality traits.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to provide a seminal behavioral genetic analysis of time perspectives (TPs). Moreover, we intended to investigate the magnitude of genetic vs. environmental components of the well-established assocations between TPs and personality features. BACKGROUND: Individual differences in temporal framing processes, referred to as TPs, are vital psychological and behavioral outcomes. Although proponents of TP theory emphasize mainly environmental origins of the tendencies to adopt certain TPs, research provides evidence for marked associations between the temporal dimensions and major personality traits that are known to be heritable. Hence, it was essential to empirically verify these claims. METHOD: The article reports an analysis of genetic and environmental components of variance in TPs based on a study adopting a twin design, conducted on a sample of 393 pairs of twins (135 monozygotic and 258 dizygotic). RESULTS: Multivariate Cholesky decomposition supported an EA model assuming impacts of both unshared environmental factors (E) and additive genetic factors (A) across all TP dimensions, suggesting that the effects of shared environment on TPs are plausibly negligible. Heritability indices of TPs ranged between 0.51 for Present-Fatalistic and 0.62 for Present-Hedonistic, suggesting that the majority of the variance in TPs stems from genetic influences. Substantial genetic correlations were found between TPs and the Big Five personality traits. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide further evidence for conceptualizing TPs as biologically based personality traits and challenge the claims that TP is mainly a product of culture, education, and personal experiences.

Performance, Hemodynamics, and Stress in a Two-Day Vigilance Task: Practical and Theoretical Implications.

OBJECTIVE: To explore vigilance task performance, cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV), workload, and stress in a within-subjects, two-session experiment. BACKGROUND: Vigilance, or sustained attention, tasks are often characterized by a decline in operator performance and CBFV with time on task, and high workload and stress. Though performance is known to improve with practice, past research has not included measures of CBFV, stress, and workload in a within-subjects multi-session design, which may also provide insight into ongoing theoretical debate. METHOD: Participants performed a vigilance task on two separate occasions. Performance, CBFV, workload, and self-reported stress were measured. RESULTS: Within each session, results were consistent with the vigilance profile found in prior research. Across sessions, performance improved but the time on task decrement remained. Mean CBFV and workload ratings did not differ between sessions, but participants reported significantly less distress, worry, and engagement after session two compared to one. CONCLUSION: Though practice may not disrupt the standard vigilance profile, it may serve to improve overall performance and reduce stress. However, repeated exposure may have negative implications for engagement and mind-wandering. APPLICATION: It is important to better understand the relationship between experience, performance, physiological response, and self-reported stress and workload in vigilance because real-world environments often require operators to do the same task over many occasions. While performance improvement and reduced distress is an encouraging result, the decline in engagement requires further research. Results across sessions fail to provide support to the mind-wandering theory of vigilance.

Gaming experience predicts UAS operator performance and workload in simulated search and rescue missions.

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operator training and selection procedures are still being refined to effectively address challenges related to performance, workload, and stress in UAS operation. Research suggests that experience with commercial videogames may test skills relevant to modern UAS operation. This study investigated the ability of videogame experience to predict operator performance, workload, and stress. Forty-nine participants performed 9 trials of a simulated search and rescue mission. It was expected that participants who more frequently played videogames would report lower levels of distress and workload, higher task engagement, and better overall performance. Results showed that gaming experience was negatively correlated with subjective workload and positively correlated with multiple measures of performance. Furthermore, nearly all observed gender-related differences were not present when gaming experience was controlled for. These results have implications for the role of gaming experience in remotely operated systems operator recruitment, selection, and training. Practitioner summary: This study examined how gaming experience influences UAS operator success in simulated search and rescue missions. Participants reported on their experience playing videogames before completing multiple experimental trials on a desktop computer. Results indicated that experience playing videogames significantly impacted performance, workload, and stress.

Perfectionism Moderates the Effects of Goal-Realization on Post-Competition Mood in Amateur Runners.

Perfectionism impacts how athletes evaluate their performance. However, little is known about how perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns interplay with athletes' anticipated and actual performance in predicting mood after the competition. Thus, we conducted a study with amateur runners [n = 152, (72 female, 80 male); Mean±SD age = 34.71 ± 9.57] taking part in a competitive 10-kilometer street run. Perfectionism was measured before the run, while the measurement of mood was taken during the post-competition week. Mood was operationalized in the 3D model of mood, distinguishing between energetic arousal, tense arousal, and hedonic tone. Regression analysis showed that specific patterns of associations between perfectionism and goal-realization explain 17-21% of variance in the dimensions of mood. Higher pleasure after the run was predicted by lower perfectionistic concerns and better conversion of anticipated performance into actual performance. In predicting energy and tension, moderating effects of perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, and conversion rate were observed. Johnson-Neyman technique revealed that only athletes low in perfectionistic concerns were able to benefit from lower tension when they met or exceeded their goals for the run. The higher athletes' perfectionistic strivings and conversion rate the more pronounced effects we observed for affect-energization. Results support the idea of perfectionistic reactivity, where the negative consequences of perfectionism can be observed in a lack of positive reactions to positive events. We also suggest that such a response to meeting or exceeding one's goal may contribute to the development of athlete burnout and hinder the development athlete engagement.

The ANT Executive Control Index: No Evidence for Temporal Decrement.

OBJECTIVE: This study tested whether indices of executive control, alertness, and orienting measured with Attention Network Test (ANT) are vulnerable to temporal decrement in performance. BACKGROUND: Developing the resource theory of sustained attention requires identifying neurocognitive processes vulnerable to decrement. Executive control processes may be prone to impairment in fatigue states. Such processes are also highlighted in alternative theories. Determining the role of executive control in vigilance can both advance theory and contribute to practical countermeasures for decrement in human factors contexts. METHOD: In Study 1, 80 participants performed the standard ANT for an extended duration of about 55 to 60 min. Study 2 (160 participants) introduced manipulations of trial blocking and stimulus degradation intended to increase resource depletion. Reaction time and accuracy measures were analyzed. Subjective stress and workload were assessed in both studies. RESULTS: In both studies, the ANT induced levels of subjective workload and task disengagement consistent with previous sustained attention studies. No systematic decrement in any performance measure was observed. CONCLUSION: Executive control assessed by the ANT is not highly vulnerable to temporal decrement, even when task demands are elevated. Future work should differentiate executive control processes; proactive control may be more implicated in sustained attention decrement than in reactive control. APPLICATION: Designing systems and interfaces to reduce executive control demands may be generally beneficial but will not directly mitigate temporal performance decrement. Enhancing design guidelines and neuroergonomic methods for monitoring operator attention requires further work to identify key neurocognitive processes for decrement.

EEG Coherence Metrics for Vigilance: Sensitivity to Workload, Time-on-Task, and Individual Differences.

The vigilance decrement in performance is a significant operational issue in various applied settings. Psychophysiological methods for diagnostic monitoring of vigilance have focused on power spectral density measures from the electroencephalogram (EEG). This article addresses the diagnosticity of an alternative set of EEG measures, coherence between different electrode sites. Coherence metrics may index the functional connectivity between brain regions that supports sustained attention. Coherence was calculated for seven pre-defined brain networks. Workload and time-on-task factors primarily influenced alpha and theta coherence in anterior, central, and inter-hemispheric networks. Individual differences in coherence in inter-hemispheric, left intro-hemispheric and posterior networks correlated with performance. These findings demonstrate the potential applied utility of coherence metrics, although several methodological limitations and challenges must be overcome.

Workload and Performance: Associations, Insensitivities, and Dissociations.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to distill and define those influences under which change in objective performance level and the linked cognitive workload reflections of subjective experience and physiological variation either associate, dissociate, or are insensitive, one to another. BACKGROUND: Human factors/ergonomics frequently employs users' self-reports of their own conscious experience, as well as their physiological reactivity, to augment the understanding of changing performance capacity. Under some circumstances, these latter workload responses are the only available assessment information to hand. How such perceptions and physiological responses match, fail to match, or are insensitive to the change in primary-task performance can prove critical to operational success. The reasons underlying these associations, dissociations, and insensitivities are central to the success of future effective human-machine interaction. METHOD: Using extant research on the relations between differing methods of workload assessment, factors influencing their association, dissociation, and insensitivity are identified. RESULTS: Dissociations and insensitivities occur more frequently than extant explanatory theories imply. Methodological and conceptual reasons for these patterns of incongruity are identified and evaluated. APPLICATION: We often seek convergence of results in order to provide coherent explanations as bases for future prediction and practical design implementation. Identifying and understanding the causes as to why different reflections of workload diverge can help practitioners toward operational success.

Vigilance and Automation Dependence in Operation of Multiple Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS): A Simulation Study.

OBJECTIVE: This simulation study investigated factors influencing sustained performance and fatigue during operation of multiple Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The study tested effects of time-on-task and automation reliability on accuracy in surveillance tasks and dependence on automation. It also investigated the role of trait and state individual difference factors. BACKGROUND: Warm's resource model of vigilance has been highly influential in human factors, but further tests of its applicability to complex, real-world tasks requiring sustained attention are necessary. Multi-UAS operation differs from standard vigilance paradigms in that the operator must switch attention between multiple subtasks, with support from automation. METHOD: 131 participants performed surveillance tasks requiring signal discrimination and symbol counting with a multi-UAS simulation configured to impose low cognitive demands, for 2 hr. Automation reliability was manipulated between-groups. Five Factor Model personality traits were measured prior to performance. Subjective states were assessed with the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire. RESULTS: Performance accuracy on the more demanding surveillance task showed a vigilance decrement, especially when automation reliability was low. Dependence on automation on this task declined over time. State but not trait factors predicted performance. High distress was associated with poorer performance in more demanding task conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Vigilance decrement may be an operational issue for multi-UAS surveillance missions. Warm's resource theory may require modification to incorporate changes in information processing and task strategy associated with multitasking in low-workload, fatiguing environments. APPLICATION: Interface design and operator evaluation for multi-UAS operations should address issues including motivation, stress, and sustaining attention to automation.

Cognitive-Adaptive Trait Theory: A Shift in Perspective on Personality.

Traditional, biologically based trait theories have deservedly gained broad acceptance, but some long-standing core issues of personality research remain unresolved. Recent research questions whether (a) there can be a single universal structural model of personality superfactors, (b) current theory adequately specifies the processes that mediate behavioral and emotional expressions of traits, and (c) brain-based accounts of traits adequately explain their role in real-world functioning and adaptation. This article reviews the perspective on these issues provided by cognitive-adaptive trait theory. This theory rejects the view that personality dimensions directly reflect brain systems. Instead, traits correspond to variation in strategies for managing key adaptive challenges. Thus, each trait is expressed in environments that pose those challenges, and each trait corresponds to skills and self-knowledge that facilitate adaptation to those environments. The cognitive-adaptive theory affords novel perspectives on trait psychometrics, theoretical accounts of mediating processes, and real-world adaptation.

Sepsis after elective ureteroscopy.

INTRODUCTION: We sought to determine our rate of postoperative sepsis after ureteroscopy as well as identifying associative factors, common antibiotic practices along with culture data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Records of all patients who underwent elective ureteroscopy from 2010 to 2015 at an urban tertiary care facility were retrospectively reviewed. Factors thought to be associated with infection were collected, along with comorbidities depicted as Charlson Age-Adjusted Comorbidity Index (CAACI) and American Society of Anesthesia (ASA) score. Each patient's course was reviewed to determine if they were treated for postoperative sepsis as defined by standardized criteria. RESULTS: A total of 345 patients underwent elective ureteroscopy with 15 (4.3%) being treated for sepsis postoperatively. This resulted in an additional 5.33 ± 3.84 days of hospitalization per patient. The sepsis group grew three gram positive organisms and five multi-drug resistant (MDR) gram negatives while 7/15 (46.7%) had negative cultures. The most common preoperative antibiotics used in the sepsis group were cefazolin (60.0%), gentamicin (48.5%) and ciprofloxacin (20.0%). Univariate analysis showed prior endoscopic procedures, recent treatment for urinary tract infections (UTI), multiple comorbidities and longer operative times associated with sepsis. However, significant variables after multivariate analysis were treatment for UTI within the last month, (OR) 7.19 (2.25-22.99), p = 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with multiple comorbidities, prior endoscopic procedures, longer operative times and especially those recently treated for a urinary infection should be carefully monitored after ureteroscopy for signs of sepsis. Perioperative antibiotics in these patients should be selected to cover both MDR organisms and gram positives.

Task Engagement and Attentional Resources.

OBJECTIVE: Two studies tested multivariate models of relationships between subjective task engagement and vigilance. The second study included a stress factor (cold infection). Modeling tested relationships between latent factors for task engagement and vigilance, and the role of engagement in mediating effects of cold infection. BACKGROUND: Raja Parasuraman's research on vigilance identified several key issues, including the roles of task factors, arousal processes, and individual differences, within the framework of resource theory. Task engagement is positively correlated with performance on various attentional tasks and may serve as a marker for resource availability. METHOD: In the first study, 229 participants performed simultaneous and successive vigilance tasks. In the second study, 204 participants performed a vigilance task and a variable-foreperiod simple reaction-time task on two separate days. On the second day, 96 participants performed while infected with a naturally occurring common cold. Task engagement was assessed in both studies. RESULTS: In both studies, vigilance decrement in hit rate was observed, and task performance led to loss of task engagement. Cold infection also depressed both vigilance and engagement. Fitting structural equation models indicated that simultaneous and successive tasks should be represented by separate latent factors (Study 1), and task engagement fully mediated the impact of cold infection on vigilance but not reaction time (Study 2). CONCLUSIONS: Modeling individual differences in task engagement elucidates the role of resources in vigilance and underscores the relevance of Parasuraman's vision of the field. APPLICATION: Assessment of task engagement may support diagnostic monitoring of operators performing tasks requiring vigilance.

Training Techniques for Visual Search in Complex Task Environments.

OBJECTIVE: The goal for this study was to evaluate several visual search training techniques in an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) simulated task environment. BACKGROUND: Operators controlling remote unmanned vehicles often must perform complex visual search tasks (e.g., target search). These tasks may pose substantial demands on the operator due to various environmental factors. Visual search training may reduce errors and mitigate stress, but the most effective form of training has not been determined. METHODS: Participants were assigned to one of four training conditions: target, cue, visual scanning, or control. After the training, the effectiveness of the training techniques was tested during a 30-minute simulated UAV flight. A secondary task manipulation was included to further simulate the demands of a realistic UAV control and target search task. Subjective stress and fatigue were also assessed. RESULTS: Target training produced superior target search performances in more hits and fewer false alarms (FAs) when compared to the control condition. The visual scanning and cue trainings were moderately effective. Only target training performance was vulnerable to the secondary task load. The task was stressful, but training did not mitigate stress response. CONCLUSION: Training participants on the target and the cue appearance as well as active scanning of the visual field is promising for promoting effective target search for this simulated UAV environment. APPLICATION: These training techniques could be used in preparation for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions that involve target search, especially where target appearance change is likely.

The Neuroergonomics of Vigilance.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of uncertainty about where in the field of view critical signals for detection appear during a vigilance task (spatial uncertainty) on cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) and oculomotor fatigue. BACKGROUND: Neuroergonomics is a dimension of human factors founded by Raja Parasuraman that studies brain functions underlying performance at work. Neuroergonomic studies have shown that observers in vigilance tasks lose information-processing resources over time and experience oculomotor fatigue as indexed by a temporal decline in CBFV and elevation in eye closure as reflected in the PERCLOS metric. Because spatial uncertainty increases an observer's need for visual scanning relative to a spatial certainty condition, it was anticipated that spatial uncertainty would result in a greater temporal decline in CBFV and increased eye closure in a vigilance session. METHOD: Observers performed a simulated unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control task wherein collision flight paths were the events to be detected. UAV images could appear at random in any one of five locations on the controller's display (spatial uncertainty) or only in a fixed location (spatial certainty). RESULTS: Signal detection was poorer in the spatial-uncertain relative to the certain condition, and predictions regarding CBFV and eye closure were confirmed. CONCLUSION: Vigilance tasks involving spatial uncertainty are more neurophysiologically taxing than those in which spatial uncertainty is not a factor. APPLICATION: The neuroergonomic approach helps in understanding the effects of psychophysical factors in vigilance and to signify when performance aiding is needed.

Impact of three task demand factors on simulated unmanned system intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations.

The present study investigated how three task demand factors influenced performance, subjective workload and stress of novice intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operators within a simulation of an unmanned ground vehicle. Manipulations were task type, dual-tasking and event rate. Participants were required to discriminate human targets within a street scene from a direct video feed (threat detection [TD] task) and detect changes in symbols presented in a map display (change detection [CD] task). Dual-tasking elevated workload and distress, and impaired performance for both tasks. However, with increasing event rate, CD task deteriorated, but TD improved. Thus, standard workload models provide a better guide to evaluating the demands of abstract symbols than to processing realistic human characters. Assessment of stress and workload may be especially important in the design and evaluation of systems in which human character critical signals must be detected in video images. Practitioner Summary: This experiment assessed subjective workload and stress during threat and CD tasks performed alone and in combination. Results indicated an increase in event rate led to significant improvements in performance during TD, but decrements during CD, yet both had associated increases in workload and engagement.

Factors Influencing Readmission after Elective Ureteroscopy.

PURPOSE: Ureteroscopy is increasingly used to manage nephrolithiasis, upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma and other urological conditions. In this study we determine the rate of readmission and emergency department visits after ureteroscopy in an underserved population, as well as factors associated with these unplanned visits. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective chart review from 2010 to 2014 of all elective ureteroscopies was conducted at a single tertiary hospital serving an underserved population in a major metropolis. Demographic, operative and discharge characteristics were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 276 ureteroscopies were performed with 15.6% presenting to the emergency department within 30 days. Overall 5.8% were readmitted. Readmitted patients were more likely to have hypertension (OR 3.64, p=0.02), asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR 5.54, p=0.001), 2 or more comorbidities (OR 3.65, p=0.12), or a complication associated with ureteroscopy (OR 7.27, p=0.007). The patients who sought care in the emergency department after ureteroscopy were less likely to have had a ureteral stent in place before ureteroscopy (OR 0.35, p=0.017) or an endoscopic urological procedure within the last 30 days (OR 0.35, p=0.045). About two-thirds of patients who presented to the emergency department complained of pain alone, while the most common complaints for readmitted patients were fever and pain (43.8%). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of emergency department visits after ureteroscopy were due to pain. These patients were less likely to have a preoperative ureteral stent placed or a history of recent urological procedures. Readmission rates were associated with overall comorbidities and complications.

Multidimensional Profiling of Task Stress States for Human Factors: A Brief Review.

OBJECTIVE: This article advocates multidimensional assessment of task stress in human factors and reviews the use of the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire (DSSQ) for evaluation of systems and operators. BACKGROUND: Contemporary stress research has progressed from an exclusive focus on environmental stressors to transactional perspectives on the stress process. Performance impacts of stress reflect the operator's dynamic attempts to understand and cope with task demands. Multidimensional stress assessments are necessary to gauge the different forms of system-operator interaction. METHOD: This review discusses the theoretical and practical use of the DSSQ in evaluating multidimensional patterns of stress response. It presents psychometric evidence for the multidimensional perspective and illustrative profiles of subjective state response to task stressors and environments. Evidence is also presented on stress state correlations with related variables, including personality, stress process measures, psychophysiological response, and objective task performance. RESULTS: Evidence supports the validity of the DSSQ as a task stress measure. Studies of various simulated environments show that different tasks elicit different profiles of stress state response. Operator characteristics such as resilience predict individual differences in state response to stressors. Structural equation modeling may be used to understand performance impacts of stress states. CONCLUSION: Multidimensional assessment affords insight into the stress process in a variety of human factors contexts. Integrating subjective and psychophysiological assessment is a priority for future research. APPLICATION: Stress state measurement contributes to evaluating system design, countermeasures to stress and fatigue, and performance vulnerabilities. It may also support personnel selection and diagnostic monitoring of operators.

The Independence and Interdependence of Coacting Observers in Regard to Performance Efficiency, Workload, and Stress in a Vigilance Task.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated performance, workload, and stress in groups of paired observers who performed a vigilance task in a coactive (independent) manner. BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated that groups of coactive observers detect more signals in a vigilance task than observers working alone. Therefore, the use of such groups might be effective in enhancing signal detection in operational situations. However, concern over appearing less competent than one's cohort might induce elevated levels of workload and stress in coactive group members and thereby undermine group performance benefits. Accordingly, we performed the initial experiment comparing workload and stress in observers who performed a vigilance task coactively with those of observers who performed the vigilance task alone. METHOD: Observers monitored a video display for collision flight paths in a simulated unmanned aerial vehicle control task. Self-reports of workload and stress were secured via the NASA-Task Load Index and the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire, respectively. RESULTS: Groups of coactive observers detected significantly more signals than did single observers. Coacting observers did not differ significantly from those operating by themselves in terms of workload but did in regard to stress; posttask distress was significantly lower for coacting than for single observers. CONCLUSION: Performing a visual vigilance task in a coactive manner with another observer does not elevate workload above that of observers working alone and serves to attenuate the stress associated with vigilance task performance. APPLICATION: The use of coacting observers could be an effective vehicle for enhancing performance efficiency in operational vigilance.

Time Perspectives Predict Mood States and Satisfaction with Life over and above Personality.

The present study aimed to test the incremental validity of Time Perspective (TP) scales in predicting satisfaction with life and mood, over and above the Big Five personality traits. It also investigated whether the new TP construct of Future Negative perspective contributed to prediction of these outcomes. Participants (N = 265) completed four measures: Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist (UMACL), a modified Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), and NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Results confirmed the incremental validity of TP, although Big Five dimensions were independently predictive of life satisfaction and certain mood scales. Past Negative TP was the strongest single predictor of life satisfaction. However, Future Negative TP was be the strongest mood predictor from the TP universe, after controlling for the Big Five and remaining TP dimensions. Findings suggest that TP is an important aspect of personality for understanding individual differences in well-being.

Predicting battlefield vigilance: a multivariate approach to assessment of attentional resources.

Technological innovation increasingly requires operators in various applied settings to maintain vigilance for extended periods. However, standard psychometric tests typically predict less than 10% of performance variance. The present study (N = 462) aimed to apply the resource theory of sustained attention to construct a multivariate test battery for predicting battlefield vigilance. The battery included cognitive ability tests, a high-workload short vigilance task and subjective measures of stress response. Four versions of a 60- min simulated military battlefield monitoring task were constructed to represent different operational requirements. The test battery predicted 24-44% of criterion variance, depending on task version, suggesting that it may identify vigilant operators in military and other applied contexts. A multiple-groups path analysis showed that relationships between ability and vigilance were moderated by working memory demands. Findings are consistent with a diffuse theoretical concept of 'resources' in which performance energisation depends on multiple, loosely coupled processes.

FMRI study of implicit emotional face processing in patients with MDD with melancholic subtype.

Introduction: The accurate perception of facial expressions plays a vital role in daily life, allowing us to select appropriate responses in social situations. Understanding the neuronal basis of altered emotional face processing in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) may lead to the appropriate choice of individual interventions to help patients maintain social functioning during depressive episodes. Inconsistencies in neuroimaging studies of emotional face processing are caused by heterogeneity in neurovegetative symptoms of depressive subtypes. The aim of this study was to investigate brain activation differences during implicit perception of faces with negative and positive emotions between healthy participants and patients with melancholic subtype of MDD. The neurobiological correlates of sex differences of MDD patients were also examined. Methods: Thirty patients diagnosed with MDD and 21 healthy volunteers were studied using fMRI while performing an emotional face perception task. Results: Comparing general face activation irrespective of emotional content, the intensity of BOLD signal was significantly decreased in the left thalamus, right supramarginal gyrus, right and left superior frontal gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, and left fusiform gyrus in patients with melancholic depression compared to healthy participants. We observed only limited mood-congruence in response to faces of differing emotional valence. Brain activation in the middle temporal gyrus was significantly increased in response to fearful faces in comparison to happy faces in MDD patients. Elevated activation was observed in the right cingulate for happy and fearful faces, in precuneus for happy faces, and left posterior cingulate cortex for all faces in depressed women compared to men. The Inventory for Depressive Symptomatology (IDS) score was inversely correlated with activation in the left subgenual gyrus/left rectal gyrus for sad, neutral, and fearful faces in women in the MDD group. Patients with melancholic features performed similarly to controls during implicit emotional processing but showed reduced activation. Discussion and conclusion: This finding suggests that melancholic patients compensate for reduced brain activation when interpreting emotional content in order to perform similarly to controls. Overall, frontal hypoactivation in response to implicit emotional stimuli appeared to be the most robust feature of melancholic depression.