QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DIFFERENCES IN THE VERBAL-LEARNING PERFORMANCE OF ELDERLY DEPRESSIVES AND HEALTHY CONTROLS

We compared the verbal learning and memory performance of 57 inpatient s with unipolar major depression and 30 nondepressed control participa nts using the California Verbal Learning Test. The effect of age withi n this elderly sample was also examined, controlling for sex, educatio nal attainment, and estimated level of intelligence. Except for verbal retention, the depressives had deficits in most aspects of performanc e, including cued and uncued recall and delayed recognition memory. As well, there were interactions between depression effects and age effe cts on some measures such that depressives' performance declined more rapidly with age than did the performance of controls. The results are discussed in the context of recent contradictory reports about the in tegrity of learning and memory functions in late-life depression. We c onclude that there is consistent evidence, from this and other studies , that elderly depressed inpatients have significant deficits in a ran ge of explicit verbal learning functions.