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Memory awareness in patients with Major Depressive Disorder

Tiago Mendes1, Sandra Cardoso2, Manuela Guerreiro2

  • 1Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal; Psychiatry and Mental Health Department, Santa Maria Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal.

Journal of Psychiatric Research
|March 28, 2021
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI-AD) report similar memory complaints, but MDD patients underestimate their memory deficits compared to MCI-AD patients and healthy controls.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Subjective Memory Complaints (SMC) and cognitive deficits are common in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).
  • The interplay between perceived memory issues and actual memory performance in MDD is not fully understood.
  • This study compares SMC and objective memory in MDD, Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer's Disease (MCI-AD), and healthy controls (HC).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between subjective memory complaints and objective memory performance in patients with MDD.
  • To differentiate the memory self-awareness patterns in MDD from those in MCI-AD and HC.
  • To assess the correlation between memory complaints and depressive symptoms.

Main Methods:

  • Recruited 47 MDD patients, 43 MCI-AD patients, and 45 HC.
  • Administered a self-report memory complaints scale (SMCS) and conducted comprehensive neuropsychological assessments.
  • Calculated a discrepancy score between Logical Memory delayed recall and SMCS total score to measure memory awareness.

Main Results:

  • MDD (12.5 ± 4.4) and MCI-AD (10.9 ± 4.1) patients reported similar high levels of memory complaints, unlike HC (4.0 ± 3.0).
  • A significant proportion of MDD (74.5%) and MCI-AD (65.1%) patients experienced prominent memory complaints, versus only 4.4% of HC.
  • MDD patients demonstrated relatively preserved memory test performance, leading to a higher discrepancy score (indicating poorer memory awareness) than MCI-AD and HC groups.

Conclusions:

  • Patients with MDD exhibit inaccurate memory self-awareness, underestimating their memory functioning.
  • This pattern of underestimation distinguishes MDD from MCI-AD and HC.
  • Memory complaints in MDD correlate positively with depressive symptom severity across all groups.
Keywords:
Alzheimer's diseaseAwarenessMajor depressionMemoryMild cognitive impairmentSubjective memory complaints

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