Decreased hedonic responsiveness during a brief depressive mood swing.

Female volunteers completed the Fawcett-Clark Pleasure Capacity Scale (FCPCS) and rated the pleasantness and desirability of a taste stimulus (cheese), before and during a depressive mood swing. Mood change was induced by reading negative self-referent statements, with additional 'booster' periods of mood induction to prolong the duration of the mood swing. The mood induction procedure (MIP) caused a decrease in contentment and alertness, as derived from a set of visual analogue mood scales, and also decreased hedonic capacity, as measured by responses to the taste stimulus and by the FCPCS. No changes on any measure were shown by a control group who read an equivalent set of positive self-referent statements. Prior to the MIP, there were no significant correlations between mood measures and hedonic measures, or between taste responses and the FCPCS. However, there were significant correlations between the size of the changes in these various measures following the depressive MIP. The results suggest that hedonic capacity is responsive to acute depressive mood swings.