Figure 3 Neural systems involved in depression. [A] involved in cognitive control and the voluntary regulation of emotion; [B] involved in the implicit (automatic) regulation of emotion; [C] involved in emotion and reward processing; PFC: prefrontal cortex. Various brain imaging studies point to increased activity in neural systems supporting emotion processing (amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex), and reduced activity in neural systems supporting regulation of emotion (e.g. dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) in major depressive illness.