Ronold Eivind Haga, Joormann Jutta, Hammar Åsa
Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Division of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Front Behav Neurosci. 2022 Jun 27;16:887596. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.887596. eCollection 2022.
Remission from major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with residual symptoms related to reduced functioning, quality of life, and relapse risk. Previous studies have raised questions about mechanisms involved-in and affected by cognitive training. This study investigated the associations and changes among depressive symptoms, rumination, processing speed (PS), executive functioning (EF), and emotional working memory (e-WM) pre- post computerized working memory training (CWMT).
Twenty-nine remitted participants were included in a pre- post pilot study of within-subject effects of online CWMT. A total of 20 participants completed the intervention and pre- post tests of EF and PS, e-WM, in addition to symptom and rumination measures. Associations between changes in symptoms and cognition were investigated pre- post. Associations between improvements in CWMT, depression history, and changes in cognition were explored. Hypotheses and statistics were preregistered before data were analyzed.
Manipulation of negatively valanced stimuli in e-WM showed an inverse association with rumination pre-intervention, but the association disappeared post-intervention. Cognitive functioning improved in most conditions with largest effects in EF. Symptoms did not change in the remitted sample. CWMT improvements were related to improvements in some aspects of EF and PS, but also to worse self-reported attention. Depression history was related to less improvement in EF.
Sample size was small and there was dropout from the study. There was no control group, thus precluding practice and placebo effects and causal relationships.
Computerized WM training improves cognitive functions and could influence associations between e-WM and rumination. This could counteract functional impairment following MDD.
重度抑郁症（MDD）的缓解与功能降低、生活质量及复发风险相关的残留症状有关。先前的研究对认知训练所涉及及受其影响的机制提出了疑问。本研究调查了计算机化工作记忆训练（CWMT）前后抑郁症状、沉思、处理速度（PS）、执行功能（EF）和情绪工作记忆（e-WM）之间的关联及变化。
29名缓解期参与者纳入了在线CWMT受试者内效应的前后对照预试验研究。共有20名参与者完成了干预以及EF、PS、e-WM的前后测试，此外还进行了症状和沉思测量。前后分别调查了症状变化与认知之间的关联。探讨了CWMT改善、抑郁病史与认知变化之间的关联。在分析数据之前预先登记了假设和统计方法。
e-WM中负性情绪刺激的操控在干预前与沉思呈负相关，但干预后该关联消失。在大多数情况下认知功能得到改善，其中EF改善最为明显。缓解期样本中的症状没有变化。CWMT的改善与EF和PS某些方面的改善有关，但也与自我报告的注意力变差有关。抑郁病史与EF改善较少有关。
样本量小且研究存在失访情况。没有对照组，因此无法排除练习和安慰剂效应以及因果关系。
计算机化工作记忆训练可改善认知功能，并可能影响e-WM与沉思之间的关联。这可能抵消MDD后的功能损害。
