The putative neurodegenerative links between depression and Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading neurodegenerative cause of dementia in the elderly. Thus far, there is no curative treatment for this devastating condition, thereby creating significant social and medical burdens. AD is characterized by progressive cognitive decline along with various neuropsychiatric symptoms, including depression and psychosis. Depression is a common psychiatric disorder affecting individuals across the life span. Although the "monoamine hypothesis" of depression has long been proposed, the pathologies and mechanisms for depressive disorders remain only partially understood. Pharmacotherapies targeting the monoaminergic pathways have been the mainstay in treating depression. Additional therapeutic approaches focusing other pathological mechanisms of depression are currently being explored. Interestingly, a number of proposed mechanisms for depression appear to be similar to those implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, including AD. For example, diminishing neurotrophic factors and neuroinflammation observed in depression are found to be associated with the development of AD. This article first provides a concise review of AD and depression, then discusses the putative links between the two neuropsychiatric conditions.