AN ANALYSIS OF MEMORY DYSFUNCTION IN MAJOR DEPRESSION

15 patients suffering from DSM-III-R major depression were compared wi th 15 age-, sex-and intelligence-matched controls on a battery of memo ry tests, aimed at fractionating memory dysfunction in depression. Pat ients were unimpaired relative to controls on measures of short-term m emory, recognition, semantic memory and implicit memory. There was no evidence of a hedonic bias in recall of positive vs. negatively valenc ed stimuli, nor was there any correlation between depression severity and level of memory impairment. Psychotic patients did not demonstrate greater memory impairment relative to nonpsychotic depressed patients . As a group, however, depressed patients demonstrated deficits in psy chomotor speed and in free recall of material (both immediate and dela yed). The selective recall deficit suggests that material has been enc oded but that patients are particularly impaired with regard to search and retrieval processes.