Are there brain markers for suicidal behavior? An approach based on cortical electrical potentials

A recent study gathers evidence linking different forms of suicidal behavior with neuroimaging tests

Event-related potentials (ERPs) are the direct result of a sensory, cognitive, or motor event; that is, the electrophysiological response of our brain to any environmental stimulus, an could be a useful method to study the activity of the brain cortex and its relationship with suicidal behavior.

The meta-analysis led by Austin J. Gallyer at the University of Florida has attempted to answer this question. The team reviewed 27 studies published between 1994 and 2017 on this topic. However, no significant relationships were found between any of the ERPs studied and suicidal behavior with one exception, the one linked to reward positivity processing.

In this case, it was found that those with high suicidal ideation showed a significant blunting of the reward positivity compared to those without it. Nevertheless, these same results were also found in patients with depression, which is a variable that highly correlates with suicidal ideation; therefore, this results still do not provide sufficient evidence of a clear relationship between ERP and suicidal behavior.

Despite this lack of evidence, it is an underexplored and promising area that is still growing and needs to address the methodological weaknesses it currently faces in order to begin to demonstrate results. But once resolved, it will contribute to the understanding of the neurobiological role of suicidal behavior.

Reference to original paper: Gallyer, A. J., Dougherty, S. P., Burani, K., Albanese, B. J., Joiner, T. E., & Hajcak, G. (2021). Suicidal thoughts, behaviors, and event‐related potentials: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Psychophysiology, 58(12), e13939.