Neurocognitive Impairment and Dementia in Mood Disorders

Pfennig, Andrea; Littmann, Eckhard; Bauer, Michael

doi:10.1176/jnp.2007.19.4.373

Cited by 24 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…In a clinical setting, to discriminate between early Alzheimer's disease (AD) and chronic depression in the elderly still presents considerable challenges [8,16,18,46,48]. The two conditions feature overlapping cognitive symptoms [7,10], which spread through different cognitive domains [33,55].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alzheimer’s disease, but not ageing or depression, affects dual-tasking

et al. 2009

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Two experiments are reported that assess dual task performance in Alzheimer's disease (AD), in chronic depression and in healthy old age. Results suggest that dual task impairments are present in AD but are not shown in depression. This is true even when episodic memory performance is equated between the groups. These results, together with those of previous studies, point to dual task performance as an aid to diagnosis of AD relative to depression. This is of particular relevance when episodic memory tests cannot distinguish between the two conditions. The dual task paradigm appears to have considerable promise in assisting the early detection of the specific cognitive deficits associated with AD, and in monitoring their progression, both in the laboratory setting and in everyday tasks. Results also are of theoretical interest in pointing to a specific dual task coordination function in the healthy human cognitive system that allows for the coordination of two tasks performed simultaneously and which is damaged in AD but not in depression.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alzheimer’s disease, but not ageing or depression, affects dual-tasking

et al. 2009

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“…The differential diagnosis between early Alzheimer's disease (AD) and major depression (MD) in the elderly can be problematic [4,16,22,71,79]. MD can precede AD and occur in the early stages of the disease [9,30,34,35,39,42].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual short-term memory binding in Alzheimer’s disease and depression

et al. 2010

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The differential diagnosis between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and major depression (MD) in the elderly can be problematic because the cognitive profile of the two conditions overlaps. Associative learning tasks seem to separate AD from MD. However, they are sensitive to the effects of normal ageing. Short-term memory-binding tasks have proved insensitive to the effects of normal ageing and highly sensitive to AD. However, they have not been used to differentiate AD from MD. The present study was aimed at investigating visual short-term memory binding in AD and MD. Fourteen AD patients, 14 patients with MD, and 14 healthy older adults were asked to perform a visual short-term memory binding task that investigated the retention of shapes, colors, or combinations of shapes and colors. Participants were to recognize changes occurring between two consecutive displays either in a single dimension (i.e., shape or color only) or in two dimensions (i.e., shape-color binding). Short-term memory performance for shape or color only was equivalent across groups. The only significant effect found was in short-term memory for shape-color binding and this was due to AD patients performing poorly in this condition only. The results extend previous findings in AD to visual short-term memory and suggest that the specific impairment in binding information in memory differentiates between the performance of AD and patients with MD.

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“…Similarly, Rosenberg and colleagues [ 28 ] followed a large sample of 436 older women over a 9-year period and found that baseline depressive symptoms were associated with increased rates of incident impairments on cognitive tests across multiple domains. Although it may be that depression is a risk factor for dementia (possibly through neuronal loss via dysregulation of glucocorticoids), it is just as likely that depression is a behavioral manifestation of the dementia process itself [ 29 ] . Further research is needed to better elucidate the possible causal relationships between depressive symptoms and subsequent cognitive impairment.…”

Section: Depression As a Symptom Of Dementiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential Diagnosis of Depression and Dementia

Bieliauskas

Drag

2012

Handbook on the Neuropsychology of Aging and Dementia

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Cognitive complaints and depressive symptoms are common in older adults. While depressive symptoms may represent a primary mood disorder, they may also refl ect the early signs of a dementia. Depression and dementia often differ in terms of their cognitive profi le as well as the phenomenology of the depressive symptoms. Neuropsychologists can play an important role in making diagnostic decisions by providing objective assessment of both cognitive and psychological functioning. This chapter reviews considerations for differential diagnosis and provides practical tips for the clinician.

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Neurocognitive Impairment and Dementia in Mood Disorders

Cited by 24 publications

References 85 publications

Alzheimer’s disease, but not ageing or depression, affects dual-tasking

Alzheimer’s disease, but not ageing or depression, affects dual-tasking

Visual short-term memory binding in Alzheimer’s disease and depression

Differential Diagnosis of Depression and Dementia

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