Executive Functions and P300 Latency in Elderly Depressed Patients and Control Subjects

SynopsisCross-sectional studies have demonstrated that natural killer (NK) cell activity is reduced in depression. To extend these observations and examine further the association between severity of depressive symptoms and values of NK activity, this study used a longitudinal case control design and assessed NK cytotoxicity at intake and at follow-up 6 months after discharge from the hospital in depressed patients and control subjects. From acute hospitalization to follow-up, depression scores significantly (P < 0·01) decreased following treatment in the depressed patients but did not change in the control subjects. NK activity significantly (P < 0·05) increased from intake to follow-up in the depressives while lytic activity did not change in the controls. At intake NK activity was significantly (P < 0·01) reduced in the depressed patients as compared to values in the controls, while at follow-up cytotoxicity was similar between the two groups. These longitudinal data suggest that a reduction of NK cytotoxicity is temporally associated with the state of acute depression.

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Cognitive Reserve and Executive Functions in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes

Journal of Diabetes Research ◽

10.1155/2020/7941543 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Paola Peña-González ◽

Alejandra Mondragón-Maya ◽

Juan Silva-Pereyra ◽

Paloma Roa-Rojas

Keyword(s):

Executive Function ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Cognitive Reserve ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Leisure Activities ◽

Hierarchical Regression ◽

Control Subjects ◽

Diabetes Status ◽

Subject Factor ◽

And Control

Background. Adults with type two diabetes mellitus (DM2) show cognitive deficits within the executive function domain. The detrimental effects of DM2 over executive function (EF) performance may be mediated by factors such as cognitive reserve (CR). CR mediates cognitive performance by delaying the appearance of clinical symptoms from subjacent brain pathology or attenuating the severity of such symptoms. Our main goal was to study the effects of CR on executive functions of adults with DM2. Methods. Data from a total of 1,034 adults were included (362 women, 672 men). Subjects were categorized into four groups: subjects with DM2 and high CR ( n = 235 ), control subjects with high CR ( n = 265 ), subjects with DM2 and low CR ( n = 298 ), and control subjects with low CR ( n = 236 ). CR was quantified through 3 proxies: education, occupational complexity, and leisure activities. Executive functions were evaluated through visual scanning, verbal fluency, and backwards counting tasks. First, a series of four one-way ANOVAs was performed where group was included as a between-subject factor and executive function as a dependent variable. Second, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to assess the weight of each CR proxy on EF performance. Results. CR level significantly affected all executive function scores independently of the diabetes status. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that years of education accounted for most of the variance in the model for executive function performance. In this study, we found that there is a significant effect of CR on executive function performance of DM2 subjects and education is the most important CR proxy.

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Stimulation and inhibition of the pituitary-adrenal axis in depressed patients and control subjects

European Neuropsychopharmacology ◽

10.1016/0924-977x(91)90550-e ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 328-335

Author(s):

C.C Gispen-De Wied ◽

J.M Van Ree

Keyword(s):

Control Subjects ◽

Adrenal Axis ◽

Depressed Patients ◽

And Control ◽

Pituitary Adrenal Axis

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Experimental evidence for a motivational origin of cognitive impairment in major depression

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291707002206 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 237-246 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

A. Scheurich ◽

A. Fellgiebel ◽

I. Schermuly ◽

S. Bauer ◽

R. Wölfges ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Goal Setting ◽

Cognitive Deficits ◽

Test Performance ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Verbal Learning ◽

Future Research ◽

Word Fluency ◽

Control Subjects ◽

Depressed Patients ◽

And Control

BackgroundDiagnostic criteria and empirical evidence support the existence of cognitive deficits in depression. However, depressed mood, loss of interest and low self-efficacy might influence cognitive performance.MethodGoal-setting instructions were used to promote motivation in depressed patients and control subjects during neuropsychological assessment. The resulting performance was compared with performance using standard instructions. Sixty in-patients with non-psychotic unipolar depression and 60 age- and education-matched healthy control subjects were assessed with standard neuropsychological tests [the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), the Digit Symbol Test (DST), the Regensburg Word Fluency Test (RWT), and the Number Combination Test (Zahlen-Verbindungs-Test, ZVT)] using either goal-setting or standard test instructions.ResultsDepressed patients showed lower baseline performance and lower generalized self-efficacy (p<0.0005) than controls. However, goal-setting instructions significantly improved patients' memory performance by 10% [AVLT:F(5, 54)=3.611,p=0.007] and psychomotor performance by 13% [ZVT:F(3, 56)=3.667,p=0.017]. Consequently, patients and control subjects demonstrated similar results when goal-setting instructions were applied. Goal-setting instructions showed a statistical trend, increasing patients' performance in the DST by 12% [F(1, 58)=2.990,p=0.089], although their verbal fluency measured by the RWT did not increase. No significant correlations of increased performance with generalized self-efficacy were found.ConclusionsCognitive deficits in depressed patients are influenced by motivational shortcomings. Because generalized self-efficacy failed to correlate to increased test performance, future research needs to disentangle the effective components of goal-setting instructions. Task-specific self-efficacy as well as enhancement of task-focused attention might underlie the significant goal-setting effect in depressed patients.

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