Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Muenster, Albert-Schweitzer-Str. 11, 48149 Muenster, Germany.
J Affect Disord. 2010 Apr;122(1-2):144-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2009.07.010. Epub 2009 Aug 18.
While neuropsychological impairments are well described in acute phases of major depressive disorders (MDD), little is known about the neuropsychological profile in remission. There is evidence for episodic memory impairments in both acute depressed and remitted patients with MDD. Learning and memory depend on individuals' ability to organize information during learning. This study investigates non-verbal memory functions in remitted MDD and whether nonverbal memory performance is mediated by organizational strategies whilst learning.
30 well-characterized fully remitted individuals with unipolar MDD and 30 healthy controls matching in age, sex and education were investigated. Non-verbal learning and memory were measured by the Rey-Osterrieth-Complex-Figure-Test (RCFT). The RCFT provides measures of planning, organizational skills, perceptual and non-verbal memory functions. For assessing the mediating effects of organizational strategies, we used the Savage Organizational Score.
Compared to healthy controls, participants with remitted MDD showed more deficits in their non-verbal memory function. Moreover, participants with remitted MDD demonstrated difficulties in organizing non-verbal information appropriately during learning. In contrast, no impairments regarding visual-spatial functions in remitted MDD were observed.
Except for one patient, all the others were taking psychopharmacological medication. The neuropsychological function was solely investigated in the remitted phase of MDD.
Individuals with MDD in remission showed persistent non-verbal memory impairments, modulated by a deficient use of organizational strategies during encoding. Therefore, our results strongly argue for additional therapeutic interventions in order to improve these remaining deficits in cognitive function.
尽管在重度抑郁症（MDD）的急性期已很好地描述了神经认知损伤，但对缓解期的神经认知特征知之甚少。在急性抑郁和缓解期 MDD 患者中都有情景记忆损伤的证据。学习和记忆依赖于个体在学习过程中组织信息的能力。本研究调查了缓解期 MDD 的非言语记忆功能，以及非言语记忆表现是否受学习时组织策略的影响。
对 30 名特征明确的、完全缓解的单相 MDD 患者和 30 名在年龄、性别和教育程度上相匹配的健康对照者进行了研究。非言语学习和记忆通过 Rey-Osterrieth 复杂图形测试（RCFT）进行测量。RCFT 提供了计划、组织技能、知觉和非言语记忆功能的测量。为了评估组织策略的中介效应，我们使用了 Savage 组织评分。
与健康对照组相比，缓解期 MDD 患者的非言语记忆功能表现出更多的缺陷。此外，缓解期 MDD 患者在学习过程中表现出适当组织非言语信息的困难。相比之下，缓解期 MDD 患者没有表现出视觉空间功能的损伤。
除了一名患者外，其他患者都在服用精神药物。神经认知功能仅在 MDD 的缓解期进行了研究。
缓解期 MDD 患者表现出持续的非言语记忆损伤，这是由于在编码过程中使用组织策略不足所致。因此，我们的研究结果强烈呼吁进行额外的治疗干预，以改善这些认知功能的剩余缺陷。
