The neural processing of negative emotion postpartum: a preliminary study of amygdala function in postpartum depression.

While contemporary diagnostic nosology characterizes postpartum depression (PPD) as a specifier of a major depressive disorder (MDD), this classification continues to be questioned. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) holds the promise of helping to characterize the neuroanatomical dysfunction associated with dysregulated emotion after childbirth. Twenty postpartum women underwent fMRI in the presence of emotionally valenced stimuli. The observation of relative amygdala non-responsivity in subjects demonstrating greater depression symptomotology stands in contrast to imaging studies of MDD and provides insight into possible phenotypic differences of PPD.