[Cognitive functions and the effectiveness of drug therapy in patients with endogenous depression]

Studies conducted on a group of 27 patients with endogenous depression demonstrated that measurements of dynamics of changes in memory function, attention concentration and task performance during administration of antidepressants have only a limited potential for prediction of the treatment efficiency. No significant differences in successive tests of memory function during drug administration were observed in a subgroup of patients responding positively to antidepressant treatment (subgroup R). In a subgroup of nonresponders (subgroup NR) a worsening of results of memory tests following a sleepless night lasted longer. In tests of attention concentration the subgroup R have shown a gradual improvement of results in successive test and the subgroup NR displayed a significant improvement of results in these tests only after 42 days of treatment. In the Kraepelin's test both groups displayed a significant improvement of results in relation to their baseline level, however the improvement was more pronounced in the subgroup R. The dynamics of changes of cognitive functioning in patients with endogenous depression did not reveal any linear association with the reduction of depressive symptoms.