The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, PR China.
The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, PR China; Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, PR China.
J Affect Disord. 2022 Dec 1;318:123-129. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.08.129. Epub 2022 Sep 1.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) are both highly prevalent and comorbid psychiatric disorders. Neurocognitive dysfunction has been commonly found in MDD, but the findings in GAD are inconsistent. Few studies have directly compared cognitive performance between GAD and MDD. Therefore, the present study aimed to reveal the similar and distinct cognitive impairments between both disorders.
Three non-overlapping and non-comorbid groups were enrolled in the current study including patients with GAD (n = 37), MDD (n = 107) and healthy controls (n = 74). Levels of anxiety and depression were assessed using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) respectively. The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) was used to compare the cognitive performance, including sustained attention, visual memory, executive functions and learning.
Both MDD and GAD groups demonstrated common significant deficits in sustained attention, visual memory, working memory and learning when compared to healthy controls. Despite the similarities, the MDD group had significantly greater impairment in learning, particularly generalization, while the GAD group demonstrated more pronounced deficits in visual memory.
Patients involved were medicated and the sample size for GAD was relatively small.
The significant differences in visual memory and learning between MDD and GAD groups might be indicators to distinguishing both disorders. These results confirm that cognitive function is of great importance as a future target for treatment in order to improve wellbeing, quality of life and functionality in both GAD and MDD.
广泛性焦虑障碍（GAD）和重度抑郁症（MDD）都是高度普遍和共病的精神障碍。认知功能障碍在 MDD 中常见，但在 GAD 中的发现并不一致。很少有研究直接比较 GAD 和 MDD 之间的认知表现。因此，本研究旨在揭示两种疾病之间相似和不同的认知障碍。
本研究纳入了三个不重叠且不共病的组，包括 GAD 患者（n=37）、MDD 患者（n=107）和健康对照组（n=74）。焦虑和抑郁程度分别使用汉密尔顿焦虑量表（HAMA）和汉密尔顿抑郁量表（HAMD）进行评估。剑桥神经心理学测试自动化电池（CANTAB）用于比较认知表现，包括持续注意力、视觉记忆、执行功能和学习。
与健康对照组相比，MDD 和 GAD 组在持续注意力、视觉记忆、工作记忆和学习方面均表现出共同的显著缺陷。尽管存在相似之处，但 MDD 组在学习方面，特别是在泛化方面，存在显著更大的损伤，而 GAD 组在视觉记忆方面表现出更明显的缺陷。
所涉及的患者均接受药物治疗，且 GAD 组的样本量相对较小。
MDD 和 GAD 组在视觉记忆和学习方面的显著差异可能是区分两种疾病的指标。这些结果证实，认知功能作为治疗的未来目标非常重要，以改善 GAD 和 MDD 的幸福感、生活质量和功能。
