Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Sep;16(9):752-9.
doi: 10.1097/JGP.0b013e31817e739a. Epub 2008 Aug 12.

Neurocognitive correlates of response to treatment in late-life depression

Tyler J Story  1 , Guy G Potter, Deborah K Attix, Kathleen A Welsh-Bohmer, David C Steffens
Affiliations

Neurocognitive correlates of response to treatment in late-life depression

Tyler J Story et al. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2008 Sep.

Abstract

Depression is often associated with neurocognitive deficits in older adults, particularly in the domains of information processing speed, episodic memory, and executive functions. Greater neurocognitive dysfunction while depressed is associated with a less effective treatment response; however, questions remain about the specific variables that characterize patients showing low treatment response and persistent cognitive deficiencies.

Objectives: The authors examined neurocognitive variables that differentiated patients who showed robust versus weak responses to antidepressant therapy.

Participants: The baseline sample included 110 women and 67 men, with a mean age of 69.1 years (SD = 6.9) and mean education of 14 years (SD = 3.3).

Design: Patients enrolled in a treatment study completed both a structured diagnostic assessment for depression and neuropsychological testing at study entry and 1-year follow-up.

Measurements: Clinicians rated patient depression using the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale. Neuropsychological assessments consisted of prose recall and percent retention (Wechsler Memory Scale -III Logical Memory), word-list recall, attention and visuomotor processing speed (Trail Making A, Symbol Digit Modalities Test), and mental flexibility (Trail Making B).

Interventions: Patients underwent treatment for depression following the guidelines of the Duke Somatic Treatment Algorithm for Geriatric Depression approach.

Results: Individuals who demonstrated the greatest improvement in mood symptoms at follow-up exhibited better prose recall and faster processing speed at baseline than individuals who demonstrated weaker treatment responses. These differences remained after controlling for depression severity at both time-points.

Conclusion: The current results suggest that better pretreatment cognitive function, particularly in verbal memory, is associated with a greater treatment response in late-life depression.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors hold no conflicts of interest in this study.

References

    1. Bruce ML. Depression and disability in late life: Directions for future research. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2001;9:102–112. - PubMed
    1. Fischer LR, Wei F, Rolnick SH, et al. Geriatric depression, antidepressant treatment, and healthcare utilization in a health maintenance organization. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2002;50:307–312. - PubMed
    1. Sutcliffe C, Burns A, Challis D, et al. Depressed mood, cognitive impairment, and survival in older people admitted to care homes in England. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2007;15:708–715. - PubMed
    1. Schneider LS. Pharmacologic considerations in the treatment of late-life depression. Am J Geriatric Psychiatry. 1996;4 sup 1:S51–S65.
    1. Potter GG, Kittinger JD, Wagner HR, et al. Prefrontal neuropsychological predictors of treatment remission in late-life depression. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2004;29:2266–2271. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances