Is negative self-referent bias an endophenotype for depression? An fMRI study of emotional self-referent words in twins at high vs. low risk of depression

•High-risk twins show impaired self-referent emotional processing and negative memory bias.•This adds to the evidence for cognitive deficits in individuals at familial risk for depression.•Negative self-referent memory bias may represent an endophenotype for depression.•No differences were seen between high-risk and low-risk twins in memory-related brain activity.