Neuropsychological functioning in postpartum depressed versus nondepressed females and nonpostpartum controls

We compared 21 postpartum depressed (PPD) women, 22 postpartum nondepressed (PPND) women, and 24 nondepressed, nonpostpartum women on a neuropsychological test battery. Postpartum women presented lower performance on initial learning (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, RAVLT) than did controls. Further, PPD women presented lower performance on Part B of the Trail Making Test than did PPND women and controls. No differences were observed in RAVLT recall or recognition trials, in Greek versions of the Controlled Oral Word Association Test, or in the Ruff 2 and 7 Selective Attention Test. Findings support the hypothesis that postpartum cognitive difficulties could be partially due to postnatal mood problems.