NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION IN YOUNG-PATIENTS WITH UNIPOLAR MAJOR DEPRESSION

Background. While neuropsychological studies have consistently reporte d impaired cognition in elderly patients with unipolar depression, stu dies of cognitive function in younger patients with depression have pr oduced equivocal results. The aim of this study was to examine the pre sence and nature of cognitive deficits in young patients with depressi on. Methods. Neuropsychological function was assessed in 20 young pati ents with unipolar depression, in comparison to 20 age-, education-and IQ-matched controls. Subtests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological T est Automated Battery (CANTAB) were employed, as this battery has prov ed sensitive to deficits in middle-aged and elderly patients with depr ession. Results. The patients were not impaired for short-term memory capacity, spatial working memory, planning ability, cognitive speed, d elayed matching to sample or recognition memory. Compared to controls, the patients showed impaired subsequent movement latencies on the Tow er of London task, suggesting deficits in the ability to sustain motor responses in depression. The depression group were also impaired on t he task of attentional set shifting, requiring more trials to criterio n at the intradimensional stage of the task and being more likely to f ail the task at the extradimensional shift stage than controls. Furthe r analysis indicated that half of the depression group failed to compl ete all stages of the set shifting task. These patients were more like ly to have required in-patient hospitalization at some time during the ir illness. Conclusions. These results indicate that there are specifi c cognitive deficits in young patients with depression and that their presence may be related to a history of hospitalization.