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Depressive symptom severity is related to poorer cognitive performance in prodromal Huntington disease

Megan M Smith1, James A Mills, Eric A Epping

  • 1Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.

Neuropsychology
|August 1, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Depression severity is linked to worse cognitive function in individuals with prodromal Huntington disease (HD). Addressing depression may improve cognitive impairment in HD patients.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Huntington disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder.
  • Depression is common in HD and may worsen cognitive deficits.
  • Research on depression's impact on cognition in prodromal HD is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between depressive symptom severity and cognitive performance in individuals with prodromal HD.
  • To examine executive functioning, learning/memory, and attention in relation to depression levels.

Main Methods:

  • 814 prodromal HD participants and 230 gene-negative controls completed neuropsychological tests.
  • The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) assessed depression severity.
  • Participants were categorized into minimal, mild, moderate, and severe depression groups based on BDI-II scores.

Main Results:

  • Moderate and severe depression groups performed worse on tests of executive functioning (SDMT, Trails B, Stroop interference) and learning/memory (HVLT-R Immediate Recall) compared to minimal and mild groups.
  • Depression severity and gene status significantly predicted cognitive performance.
  • Gene status had a greater impact on memory and Trails B performance, while depression and gene status had comparable contributions to other cognitive tests.

Conclusions:

  • Depressive symptom severity is associated with poorer cognitive performance in prodromal HD.
  • Depression may be a treatable factor contributing to cognitive impairment in this population.
  • Findings suggest potential therapeutic targets for cognitive deficits in HD.
Abstract

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