Department of Psychiatry & Neuroscience Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Unit on Child & Adolescent Health, South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Cape Town, South Africa.
Brain Behav. 2021 Apr;11(4):e01950. doi: 10.1002/brb3.1950. Epub 2021 Mar 5.
Neurocognitive dysfunction has been associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). However, although PTSD is often comorbid with MDD, there is little neurocognitive work to date on individuals who suffer from both PTSD and MDD. Here, we compared neurocognitive domains in individuals with PTSD, MDD, and comorbid PTSD and MDD with those of healthy controls.
Participants comprised of mothers enrolled in the Drakenstein Child Health Study, a study exploring child health determinants in the Drakenstein district, Western Cape. N = 175 mothers (between 18 and 50 years) were recruited and divided into 4 groups: PTSD, MDD, PTSD with MDD, and healthy controls. Participants were assessed using the computerized NIH Toolbox, and paper and pencil neurocognitive tests. Domains assessed included executive function, memory, attention, learning, and processing speed.
Distinct patterns of neurocognitive dysfunction were observed in this sample. PTSD was associated with more intrusion errors and MDD was associated with delayed recall impairment, relative to healthy controls. PTSD with comorbid MDD was associated with processing speed impairments, relative to healthy controls, and monodiagnostic groups. No group differences were observed on measures of attention and executive function.
Distinct patterns of neurocognitive dysfunction were associated with diagnoses of MDD and PTSD. Greater anticipated dysfunction and impairment in comorbid PTSD and MDD was not observed, however. Further work is needed to replicate and extend these findings.
神经认知功能障碍与创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）和重度抑郁症（MDD）有关。然而，尽管 PTSD 常与 MDD 共病，但迄今为止，针对同时患有 PTSD 和 MDD 的个体的神经认知研究甚少。在这里，我们比较了 PTSD、MDD 以及同时患有 PTSD 和 MDD 的个体与健康对照组在神经认知领域的差异。
参与者包括参加德肯斯坦儿童健康研究的母亲，该研究旨在探索西开普省德肯斯坦地区儿童健康的决定因素。招募了 175 名年龄在 18 至 50 岁之间的母亲，并将其分为 4 组：PTSD、MDD、PTSD 合并 MDD 和健康对照组。参与者使用 NIH 工具箱计算机化测试和纸笔神经认知测试进行评估。评估的领域包括执行功能、记忆、注意力、学习和处理速度。
在这个样本中观察到了不同的神经认知功能障碍模式。与健康对照组相比，PTSD 与更多的侵入性错误相关，而 MDD 与延迟回忆障碍相关。与健康对照组和单诊断组相比，同时患有 PTSD 和 MDD 的个体与处理速度障碍相关。在注意力和执行功能的测量上，各组之间没有差异。
MDD 和 PTSD 的诊断与不同模式的神经认知功能障碍有关。然而，并未观察到同时患有 PTSD 和 MDD 的个体出现更大的预期功能障碍和损伤。需要进一步的工作来复制和扩展这些发现。
