Ortiz T, Pérez-Serrano J M, Zaglul C, Coullaut R, Coullaut J, Criado J, Fernández A
Departamento de Psiquiatria, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Actas Esp Psiquiatr. 2003 Jul-Aug;31(4):177-81.
To study working memory function in major depression using identification and memory tests with event-related potentials (ERP).
We compared behavioral performance and event-related potentials during the processing of the Sternberg working memory task in 26 patients with major depression and 64 healthy matched control subjects.
Depressed patients had more errors and had an increase in reaction time that was superior to the control subjects during the memory test of 5 letters presented. The depressive patients showed increased event-related potentials (P300 and N400) between 300-700 milliseconds registered in Pz. The prolonged positive activity in the patients ERPs suggests specific deficit in cortical activity and the large prolonged negativity activity in the patients' ERPs suggests abnormal activation of additional neuronal assemblies than those normally participating in the memory task. These data could reflect either compensatory mechanisms of dysfunction of inhibitory systems.
This study provides objective evidence that major depression significantly affects working memory. The ERP changes in depression could be accounted for by cortical activity dysfunction of the central executive control of working memory.
使用事件相关电位（ERP）识别和记忆测试来研究重度抑郁症患者的工作记忆功能。
我们比较了26名重度抑郁症患者和64名健康匹配对照者在执行斯特恩伯格工作记忆任务过程中的行为表现和事件相关电位。
在呈现5个字母的记忆测试中，抑郁症患者出现更多错误，且反应时间延长，优于对照者。抑郁症患者在Pz记录到的300 - 700毫秒之间事件相关电位（P300和N400）增加。患者ERP中延长的正性活动表明皮质活动存在特定缺陷，而患者ERP中大幅延长的负性活动表明参与记忆任务的神经元组件比正常情况有异常激活。这些数据可能反映了抑制系统功能障碍的代偿机制。
本研究提供了客观证据，证明重度抑郁症显著影响工作记忆。抑郁症中的ERP变化可能是由于工作记忆中央执行控制的皮质活动功能障碍所致。
