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Introduction Major Depression Disorder (MDD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) often co-occur, but the neurocognitive mechanisms of this co-occurrence remain unknown. Prominent views have pointed to attentional processes as potent mechanisms at play in MDD and GAD, respectively. Yet uncertainty remains regarding the very nature of attentional impairments in patients with co-occurring MDD and GAD. Methods Inspired by contemporary models of attentional networks, we compared the three main attentional networks, namely the orienting, alerting, and executive networks of the Attention Network Task's model, in four groups of patients with, respectively, co-occurring DSM-5 MDD and GAD (n = 30), DSM-5 MDD only (n = 30), DSM-5 GAD only (n = 30), or free from any DSM-5 diagnosis (n = 30). To capture the multivariate nature of our data, we examined between-group differences in the attentional networks through a multivariate analysis of variance. Results Patients with co-occurring MDD and GAD exhibited more severe impairments in the executive control network than those with only one of the disorders. Although patients with MDD or GAD solely did not differ in terms of attentional impairments, both groups showed significantly more impairments in the executive control network than those free from any DSM-5 diagnosis (all Bonferonni-corrected post-hoc ps < 0.05). Conclusions Our findings align with a longstanding staging approach to comorbidity whereby, via synergistic effects, co-occurring disorders produce more damages than the sum of each disorder. Here, for the first time, we extended this approach to the executive network of attention in the context of the co-occurrence between MDD and GAD.

The comorbidity between major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder is highly prevalent in the population. This comorbidity, due to its high prevalence, constitutes a major societal challenge. Both anxious and depressed individuals report cognitive impairments leading them to experience difficulties in situations that require concentration, adaptation, or decision making. These capacities underpin attentional and executive processes. This doctoral thesis aimed at clarifying the articulation of attentional and executive deficits in anxiety and depression comorbidity. Through nine theoretical and empirical chapters, this thesis not highlights the role of executive control efficiency but also the potent role of sleep problems and fatigue as central transdiagnostic processes in the co-occurrence of anxiety and depressive symptoms., La comorbidité entre le trouble dépressif majeur et le trouble anxieux généralisé est très fréquente dans la population. Cette comorbidité anxio-dépressive, de par sa prévalence élévée, constitue un enjeu sociétal majeur. Tant les individus anxieux que dépressifs rapportent des difficultés cognitives les amenant à expérimenter des difficultés dans les situations qui requièrent de se concentrer, de s’adapter ou de prendre des décisions. Ces capacités sont sous-tendues par les processus attentionnels et exécutifs. Cette thèse de doctorat a pour objectif de comprendre l’articulation des déficits attentionnels et exécutifs dans la comorbidité anxio-dépressive. À travers neufs chapitres théoriques et empiriques, cette thèse souligne non seulement le rôle de l’efficience du contrôle exécutif de l’attention mais aussi le rôle potentiel des problèmes de sommeil et de la fatigue comme processus transdiagnostiques déterminant dans la compréhension de la cooccurrence des symptômes anxieux et dépressifs., (PSYE - Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation) -- UCL, 2022

BACKGROUND: Dominant theoretical models consider that attentional biases (AB) towards alcohol-related stimuli play a key role in the development and maintenance of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Their assessment has however showed high inconsistencies and has been mostly based on unreliable behavioral measures. This study evaluated the presence and extent of alcohol-related AB in recently detoxified inpatients with severe AUD by combining the visual probe task (VPT) paradigm with eye-tracking measures, known to improve the VPT reliability in subclinical populations. METHODS: We recruited 24 patients and 27 matched healthy controls. They performed the VPT (measuring reaction time when processing visual targets preceded by alcoholic and matched non-alcoholic pictures) combined with eye-tracking measures (dwell time, first fixation direction/duration, second fixation direction) during two sessions. Estimates of internal consistency, split-half reliability, and test-retest reliability were measured. RESULTS: Patients showed shorter dwell time for alcohol cues (p = .004, d=.853) and reduced number of fixations towards alcohol after a first fixation on non-alcohol cues (p = .012, d=.758) compared to controls. These findings suggest the presence of alcohol-related avoidance AB in detoxified patients with severe AUD. The VPT achieved excellent reliability for these eye-tracking measures. Reaction times and first fixation measures did not indicate any AB pattern and showed poor reliability. CONCLUSIONS: The VPT, when combined with dwell time and second fixation direction, constitutes a reliable method for assessing AB in detoxified patients. It showed the presence of an alcohol-related avoidance bias in this clinical population, in contradiction with the approach bias predicted by theoretical models.

Disturbed processing of emotional faces and voices is typically observed in schizophrenia. This deficit leads to impaired social cognition and interactions. In this study, we investigated whether impaired processing of emotions also affects musical stimuli, which are widely present in daily life and known for their emotional impact. Thirty schizophrenic patients and 30 matched healthy controls evaluated the emotional content of musical, vocal and facial stimuli. Schizophrenic patients are less accurate than healthy controls in recognizing emotion in music, voices and faces. Our results confirm impaired recognition of emotion in voice and face stimuli in schizophrenic patients and extend this observation to the recognition of emotion in musical stimuli. © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.