Mondal S, Sharma V K, Das S, Goswami U, Gandhi A
Department of Physiology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi.
Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 2007 Jan-Mar;51(1):69-75.
Earlier studies have shown conflicting results regarding impairment of executive functions in patients of major depression. In the present study, subjects were divided into following groups-Group 1 (19 Males & 11 females, age 18-45 years) consisting of patients of major depression diagnosed on the basis of DSM IV criteria and Group 2 (20 Males & 10 females, age 18-45 years) consisting of healthy subjects who had been screened for any sub-psychiatric illness by standardized hindi version of Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire (G.H.Q.). All the Group 1 & Group 2 subjects were rated on Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) and then administered Neuro-cognitive test battery consisting of Letter Cancellation test, Trail Making test 'A' & 'B', Ruff Figural Fluency test, Forward & Reverse Digit Span test for assessing following cognitive domains: Attention span, visuo-motor scanning, short term memory and executive functions like working memory, information manipulation, set-shifting strategy analysis etc. Results showed significant impairment on all the studied neuro-cognitive parameters in Group 1 subjects as compared to Group 2 subjects, which demonstrate significant impairment of attention, visuomotor speed, immediate verbal memory, short-term retentive capacity and executive functions (strategic planning, attentional set shifting and working memory) in patients of major depression. It may probably be due to the disruption of dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (dlpfc) and orbito-frontal networks in patients of major depression.
早期研究在重度抑郁症患者执行功能损害方面得出了相互矛盾的结果。在本研究中，受试者被分为以下几组：第一组（19名男性和11名女性，年龄18 - 45岁），由根据DSM-IV标准诊断的重度抑郁症患者组成；第二组（20名男性和10名女性，年龄18 - 45岁），由通过戈德堡一般健康问卷（G.H.Q.）的标准化印地语版本筛查过任何亚精神疾病的健康受试者组成。所有第一组和第二组受试者均接受汉密尔顿抑郁评定量表（HAM-D）评分，然后进行神经认知测试组合，包括字母划消测试、连线测验“A”和“B”、鲁夫图形流畅性测试、顺背和倒背数字广度测试，以评估以下认知领域：注意力广度、视运动扫描、短期记忆以及执行功能，如工作记忆、信息操作、定势转换策略分析等。结果显示，与第二组受试者相比，第一组受试者在所有研究的神经认知参数上均有显著损害，这表明重度抑郁症患者在注意力、视运动速度、即刻言语记忆、短期保持能力以及执行功能（战略规划、注意力定势转换和工作记忆）方面存在显著损害。这可能是由于重度抑郁症患者背外侧前额叶皮质（dlpfc）和眶额网络的破坏所致。
