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Information processing in patients with first episode major depression
Åsa Hammar1, Anna B Kildal, Marit Schmid
1Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. aasa.hammar@psybp.uib.no
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
|November 23, 2012
Summary
Cognitive functioning in first-episode depression patients was assessed. Patients with first episode depression showed similar performance to healthy controls in effortful and non-effortful information processing tasks.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Cognitive deficits are often observed in recurrent depression.
- Limited research exists on cognitive functioning during a first depressive episode.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare information processing in patients with a first episode of depression versus healthy controls.
- To investigate performance in both effortful and non-effortful cognitive tasks.
Main Methods:
- A visual search test was employed to assess information processing.
- Thirty-one patients diagnosed with a first depressive episode participated.
- Thirty-one healthy individuals served as controls.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in performance were found between patients and controls.
- Both groups performed similarly across all tested conditions of the visual search task.
Conclusions:
- First-episode depression patients with severe symptoms do not exhibit cognitive deficits in visual attention.
- Cognitive functioning, specifically in effortful and non-effortful processing, appears preserved in early-stage depression.
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